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A Christmas Carol

Charles Dickens

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A Christmas Carol

I have endeavoured in this Ghostly little book, to raise the Ghost of an Idea, which shall not put my readers out of humour with themselves, with each other, with the season, or with me. May it haunt their houses pleasantly, and no one wish to lay it. Their faithful Friend and Servant, C. D. December, 1843.

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A Christmas Carol

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Stave 1: Marley’s Ghost
Marley was dead: to begin with. There is no doubt whatever about that. The register of his burial was signed by the clergyman, the clerk, the undertaker, and the chief mourner. Scrooge signed it. And Scrooge’s name was good upon ‘Change, for anything he chose to put his hand to. Old Marley was as dead as a door-nail. Mind! I don’t mean to say that I know, of my own knowledge, what there is particularly dead about a doornail. I might have been inclined, myself, to regard a coffinnail as the deadest piece of ironmongery in the trade. But the wisdom of our ancestors is in the simile; and my unhallowed hands shall not disturb it, or the Country’s done for. You will therefore permit me to repeat, emphatically, that Marley was as dead as a door-nail. Scrooge knew he was dead? Of course he did. How could it be otherwise? Scrooge and he were partners for I don’t know how many years. Scrooge was his sole executor, his sole administrator, his sole assign, his sole residuary legatee, his sole friend, and sole mourner. And even Scrooge was not so dreadfully cut up by the sad

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years afterwards. and sometimes Marley. scraping. The mention of Marley’s funeral brings me back to the point I started from. old sinner! Hard and sharp as flint. but he answered to both names. There it stood. 4 of 138
. from which no steel had ever struck out generous fire. It was all the same to him. above the warehouse door: Scrooge and Marley. grasping. If we were not perfectly convinced that Hamlet’s Father died before the play began. Scrooge never painted out Old Marley’s name. Oh! But he was a tight-fisted hand at the grind. or nothing wonderful can come of the story I am going to relate. wrenching. than there would be in any other middle-aged gentleman rashly turning out after dark in a breezy spot — say Saint Paul’s Churchyard for instance — literally to astonish his son’s weak mind. covetous. there would be nothing more remarkable in his taking a stroll at night. The firm was known as Scrooge and Marley. Scrooge! a squeezing. upon his own ramparts. but that he was an excellent man of business on the very day of the funeral. in an easterly wind.A Christmas Carol
event. clutching. There is no doubt that Marley was dead. Sometimes people new to the business called Scrooge Scrooge.stone. and solemnised it with an undoubted bargain. This must be distinctly understood.

No wind that blew was bitterer than he. of Scrooge. stiffened his gait. and self-contained. ‘My dear Scrooge. made his eyes red. with gladsome looks. his thin lips blue. They often ‘came down’ handsomely. no wintry weather chill him. Even the blind men’s dogs appeared to know him. The heaviest rain. He carried his own low temperature always about with him. could boast of the advantage over him in only one respect. shrivelled his cheek. No warmth could warm. External heat and cold had little influence on Scrooge. and hail. nipped his pointed nose. and solitary as an oyster. A frosty rime was on his head. Nobody ever stopped him in the street to say. no pelting rain less open to entreaty. and Scrooge never did. he iced his office in the dogdays. and on his eyebrows. no falling snow was more intent upon its purpose. and sleet. how are you? When will you come to see me?’ No beggars implored him to bestow a trifle. no children asked him what it was o’clock. and didn’t thaw it one degree at Christmas. no man or woman ever once in all his life inquired the way to such and such a place. and when they saw him coming on. Foul weather didn’t know where to have him.A Christmas Carol
secret. and his wiry chin. would tug their owners into doorways 5 of 138
. and snow. The cold within him froze his old features. and spoke out shrewdly in his grating voice.

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. but it was quite dark already — it had not been light all day — and candles were flaring in the windows of the neighbouring offices. To edge his way along the crowded paths of life. It was cold. was what the knowing ones call ‘nuts’ to Scrooge. and stamping their feet upon the pavement stones to warm them. like ruddy smears upon the palpable brown air. one might have thought that Nature lived hard by. The fog came pouring in at every chink and keyhole. on Christmas Eve — old Scrooge sat busy in his countinghouse. that although the court was of the narrowest. go wheezing up and down. the houses opposite were mere phantoms. warning all human sympathy to keep its distance. dark master!’ But what did Scrooge care! It was the very thing he liked. obscuring everything. To see the dingy cloud come drooping down. beating their hands upon their breasts. Once upon a time — of all the good days in the year.A Christmas Carol
and up courts. biting weather: foggy withal: and he could hear the people in the court outside. and was so dense without. ‘No eye at all is better than an evil eye. The city clocks had only just gone three. bleak. and then would wag their tails as though they said. and was brewing on a large scale.

‘Christmas a humbug. was copying letters. but the clerk’s fire was so very much smaller that it looked like one coal. and so surely as the clerk came in with the shovel. uncle! God save you!’ cried a cheerful voice. I am sure?’
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. ‘Humbug!’ He had so heated himself with rapid walking in the fog and frost. not being a man of a strong imagination. But he couldn’t replenish it. his eyes sparkled. and tried to warm himself at the candle. Scrooge had a very small fire. a sort of tank. he failed. Wherefore the clerk put on his white comforter. ‘Bah!’ said Scrooge. uncle!’ said Scrooge’s nephew. who in a dismal little cell beyond. It was the voice of Scrooge’s nephew. who came upon him so quickly that this was the first intimation he had of his approach. this nephew of Scrooge’s. that he was all in a glow. ‘You don’t mean that. the master predicted that it would be necessary for them to part. his face was ruddy and handsome.A Christmas Carol
The door of Scrooge’s counting-house was open that he might keep his eye upon his clerk. and his breath smoked again. in which effort. for Scrooge kept the coal-box in his own room. ‘A merry Christmas.

’ Scrooge having no better answer ready on the spur of the moment. and buried with a stake of holly through his heart. ‘when I live in such a world of fools as this? Merry Christmas! Out upon merry Christmas! What’s Christmas time to you but a time for paying bills without money. should be boiled with his own pudding. ‘What else can I be. then. He should!’ ‘Uncle!’ pleaded the nephew.’ ‘Don’t be cross. ‘keep Christmas in your own way.’ 8 of 138
.’ said Scrooge. and let me keep it in mine. ‘every idiot who goes about with ‘Merry Christmas’ on his lips. a time for balancing your books and having every item in ‘em through a round dozen of months presented dead against you? If I could work my will. ‘Merry Christmas! What right have you to be merry? What reason have you to be merry? You’re poor enough.’ returned the nephew gaily. ‘What right have you to be dismal? What reason have you to be morose? You’re rich enough. a time for finding yourself a year older. and followed it up with ‘Humbug. ‘Nephew!’ returned the uncle sternly. but not an hour richer. said ‘Bah!’ again.’ said Scrooge indignantly. uncle!’ said the nephew.A Christmas Carol
‘I do.’ returned the uncle.’ ‘Come.

Becoming immediately sensible of the impropriety. But I am sure I have always thought of Christmas time. ‘Much good may it do you! Much good it has ever done you!’ ‘There are many things from which I might have derived good. ‘But you don’t keep it. uncle.’ returned the nephew. and extinguished the last frail spark for ever. charitable. I believe that it has done me good. and not another race of creatures bound on other journeys. he poked the fire. forgiving. God bless it!’ The clerk in the Tank involuntarily applauded.’ said Scrooge. and will do me good. ‘Christmas among the rest. a kind. and to think of people below them as if they really were fellow-passengers to the grave.’ ‘Let me leave it alone. if anything belonging to it can be apart from that — as a good time.A Christmas Carol
‘Keep it!’ repeated Scrooge’s nephew. pleasant time: the only time I know of. in the long calendar of the year. though it has never put a scrap of gold or silver in my pocket. I dare say. when it has come round — apart from the veneration due to its sacred name and origin. when men and women seem by one consent to open their shut-up hearts freely. then. 9 of 138
. and I say. by which I have not profited. And therefore.

’ said Scrooge. as if that were the only one thing in the world more ridiculous than a merry Christmas.’ he added. ‘Good afternoon!’ ‘Nay. I ask nothing of you. ‘and you’ll keep your Christmas by losing your situation! You’re quite a powerful speaker. but you never came to see me before that happened. ‘I want nothing from you. sir. turning to his nephew. We have never had any quarrel.’ Scrooge said that he would see him — yes. ‘Why?’ ‘Why did you get married?’ said Scrooge. But I have made the trial in homage to Christmas. ‘Because I fell in love.’ ‘Don’t be angry. Why give it as a reason for not coming now?’ ‘Good afternoon. uncle. uncle.A Christmas Carol
‘Let me hear another sound from you.’ said Scrooge. ‘But why?’ cried Scrooge’s nephew. with all my heart. Come! Dine with us tomorrow. ‘I wonder you don’t go into Parliament. why cannot we be friends?’ ‘Good afternoon. ‘I am sorry.’ said Scrooge. to find you so resolute.’ ‘Because you fell in love!’ growled Scrooge. He went the whole length of the expression. and said that he would see him in that extremity first. to which I have been a party. 10 of 138
. indeed he did.

uncle!’ ‘Good afternoon. ‘And A Happy New Year!’ ‘Good afternoon. in letting Scrooge’s nephew out. with their hats off. was warmer than Scrooge. and bowed to him. or Mr. I believe. Marley?’ ‘Mr. had let two other people in. Marley has been dead these seven years. with fifteen shillings a week. I’ll retire to Bedlam.’ muttered Scrooge.A Christmas Carol
and I’ll keep my Christmas humour to the last. and a wife and family. who cold as he was. notwithstanding. and now stood. ‘Scrooge and Marley’s. talking about a merry Christmas. pleasant to behold. So A Merry Christmas. in Scrooge’s office. for he returned them cordially. referring to his list. ‘There’s another fellow. They were portly gentlemen.’ said Scrooge.’ This lunatic. His nephew left the room without an angry word. this very night. Scrooge.’ said one of the gentlemen.’ said Scrooge. who overheard him: ‘my clerk. ‘Have I the pleasure of addressing Mr.’ 11 of 138
.’ Scrooge replied. He stopped at the outer door to bestow the greetings of the season on the clerk. They had books and papers in their hands. ‘He died seven years ago.

’ ‘Are there no prisons?’ asked Scrooge. ‘At this festive season of the year. ‘it is more than usually desirable that we should make some slight provision for the Poor and Destitute. Still. At the ominous word ‘liberality. Mr. It certainly was. Many thousands are in want of common necessaries. ‘Both very busy. ‘Are they still in operation?’ ‘They are. who suffer greatly at the present time. Scrooge.’ said the gentleman.’ said the gentleman.’ said the gentleman. and handed the credentials back. taking up a pen. ‘I wish I could say they were not. laying down the pen again. then?’ said Scrooge.’ returned the gentleman. ‘And the Union workhouses?’ demanded Scrooge. for they had been two kindred spirits.’ Scrooge frowned. hundreds of thousands are in want of common comforts. sir.’
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. sir.’ ‘The Treadmill and the Poor Law are in full vigour.A Christmas Carol
‘We have no doubt his liberality is well represented by his surviving partner. presenting his credentials. ‘Plenty of prisons. and shook his head.

‘they had better do it. I don’t make merry myself at Christmas and I can’t afford to make idle people merry. and Abundance rejoices. that something had occurred to stop them in their useful course. when Want is keenly felt. ‘You wish to be anonymous?’ ‘I wish to be left alone. ‘Since you ask me what I wish. and means of warmth.’ said Scrooge.’ ‘Under the impression that they scarcely furnish Christian cheer of mind or body to the multitude.’ said Scrooge. from what you said at first.’ said Scrooge.’ observed the gentleman. gentlemen. I help to support the establishments I have mentioned — they cost enough. Besides — excuse me — I don’t know that. that is my answer. and those who are badly off must go there. ‘a few of us are endeavouring to raise a fund to buy the Poor some meat and drink.’ returned the gentleman. What shall I put you down for?’ ‘Nothing!’ Scrooge replied.
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. and many would rather die.’ ‘If they would rather die.’ ‘Many can’t go there. ‘I’m very glad to hear it. We choose this time. of all others. and decrease the surplus population.A Christmas Carol
‘Oh! I was afraid.’ ‘But you might know it. because it is a time.

and struck the hours and quarters in the clouds. In the main street at the corner of the court. with tremulous vibrations afterwards as if its teeth were chattering in its frozen head up there. and turned to misanthropic ice. gentlemen!’ Seeing clearly that it would be useless to pursue their point. The water-plug being left in solitude. The ancient tower of a church. whose gruff old bell was always peeping slily down at Scrooge out of a Gothic window in the wall. Good afternoon. ‘It’s enough for a man to understand his own business. The brightness of the shops where holly 14 of 138
. some labourers were repairing the gas-pipes. Meanwhile the fog and darkness thickened so. Scrooge returned his labours with an improved opinion of himself.A Christmas Carol
‘It’s not my business. and not to interfere with other people’s. and conduct them on their way. The cold became intense. and in a more facetious temper than was usual with him.’ Scrooge returned. and had lighted a great fire in a brazier. that people ran about with flaring links. Mine occupies me constantly. the gentlemen withdrew. its overflowing sullenly congealed. proffering their services to go before horses in carriages. round which a party of ragged men and boys were gathered: warming their hands and winking their eyes before the blaze in rapture. became invisible.

while his lean wife and the baby sallied out to buy the beef. Foggier yet. Poulterers’ and grocers’ trades became a splendid joke. searching. instead of using his familiar weapons. stirred up to-morrow’s pudding in his garret. and edit PDF. gnawed and mumbled by the hungry cold as bones are gnawed by dogs. Download the free trial version. in the stronghold of the mighty Mansion House.eBook brought to you by
A Christmas Carol
Create. biting cold. stooped down at Scrooge’s keyhole to regale him with a Christmas carol: but at the first sound of ‘God bless you. with which it was next to impossible to believe that such dull principles as bargain and sale had anything to do. made pale faces ruddy as they passed.
sprigs and berries crackled in the lamp heat of the windows. If the good Saint Dunstan had but nipped the Evil Spirit’s nose with a touch of such weather as that. a glorious pageant. and even the little tailor. and colder! Piercing. The owner of one scant young nose. view. The Lord Mayor. whom he had fined five shillings on the previous Monday for being drunk and bloodthirsty in the streets. then indeed he would have roared to lusty purpose. gave orders to his fifty cooks and butlers to keep Christmas as a Lord Mayor’s household should. merry gentleman! May nothing you dismay!’ 15 of 138
.

I’ll be bound?’ The clerk smiled faintly. sir. ‘you don’t think me ill-used. ‘and it’s not fair.’ The clerk observed that it was only once a year. If I was to stop half-a-crown for it.’ ‘It’s not convenient. At length the hour of shutting up the counting. and tacitly admitted the fact to the expectant clerk in the Tank. Be here all the earlier next morning. and Scrooge walked out with a growl.A Christmas Carol
Scrooge seized the ruler with such energy of action. ‘If quite convenient. 16 of 138
. I suppose?’ said Scrooge.’ The clerk promised that he would. when I pay a day’s wages for no work.’ said Scrooge. ‘You’ll want all day to-morrow.house arrived.’ said Scrooge. who instantly snuffed his candle out. ‘A poor excuse for picking a man’s pocket every twenty-fifth of December!’ said Scrooge. ‘And yet. leaving the keyhole to the fog and even more congenial frost. buttoning his great-coat to the chin. you’d think yourself illused. With an ill-will Scrooge dismounted from his stool. ‘But I suppose you must have the whole day. The office was closed in a twinkling. that the singer fled in terror. and put on his hat.

A Christmas Carol
and the clerk.
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. Scrooge took his melancholy dinner in his usual melancholy tavern. in honour of its being Christmas Eve. twenty times. and then ran home to Camden Town as hard as he could pelt. and dreary enough. and forgotten the way out again. and having read all the newspapers. went down a slide on Cornhill. who knew its every stone. the other rooms being all let out as offices. that it seemed as if the Genius of the Weather sat in mournful meditation on the threshold. with the long ends of his white comforter dangling below his waist (for he boasted no great-coat). in a lowering pile of building up a yard. was fain to grope with his hands. It was old enough now. to play at blindman’s-buff. at the end of a lane of boys. for nobody lived in it but Scrooge. He lived in chambers which had once belonged to his deceased partner. playing at hide-and-seek with other houses. where it had so little business to be. The fog and frost so hung about the black old gateway of the house. and beguiled the rest of the evening with his banker’sbook. They were a gloomy suite of rooms. went home to bed. The yard was so dark that even Scrooge. that one could scarcely help fancying it must have run there when it was a young house.

and. without its undergoing any intermediate process of change — not a knocker. but Marley’s face. they were perfectly motionless. It is also a fact.A Christmas Carol
Now. even including — which is a bold word — the corporation. made it horrible. how it happened that Scrooge. but had a dismal light about it. Marley’s face. and livery. that there was nothing at all particular about the knocker on the door. having his key in the lock of the door. It was not angry or ferocious. And then let any man explain to me. except that it was very large. since his last mention of his seven years’ dead partner that afternoon. like a bad lobster in a dark cellar. during his whole residence in that place. and its livid colour. also that Scrooge had as little of what is called fancy about him as any man in the city of London. that Scrooge had seen it. but looked at Scrooge as Marley used to look: with ghostly spectacles turned up on its ghostly forehead. saw in the knocker. night and morning. it is a fact. Let it also be borne in mind that Scrooge had not bestowed one thought on Marley. though the eyes were wide open. but its horror seemed to be in spite of the face
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. as if by breath or hot air. The hair was curiously stirred. if he can. That. aldermen. It was not in impenetrable shadow as the other objects in the yard were.

appeared to have a separate peal of echoes of its own. The sound resounded through the house like thunder. as if he half-expected to be terrified with the sight of Marley’s pigtail sticking out into the hall. and up the stairs.A Christmas Carol
and beyond its control. it was a knocker again. except the screws and nuts that held the knocker on. would be untrue. walked in. slowly too: trimming his candle as he went. As Scrooge looked fixedly at this phenomenon. and every cask in the wine-merchant’s cellars below. and walked across the hall. Scrooge was not a man to be frightened by echoes. rather than a part or its own expression. and he did look cautiously behind it first. Every room above. To say that he was not startled. or that his blood was not conscious of a terrible sensation to which it had been a stranger from infancy. pooh!’ and closed it with a bang. But he put his hand upon the key he had relinquished. before he shut the door. so he said ‘Pooh. and lighted his candle. He fastened the door. But there was nothing on the back of the door. with a moment’s irresolution.
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. He did pause. turned it sturdily.

bedroom.A Christmas Carol
You may talk vaguely about driving a coach-and-six up a good old flight of stairs. Half a dozen gas-lamps out of the street wouldn’t have lighted the entry too well. There was plenty of width for that. spoon and basin ready. and Scrooge liked it. or through a bad young Act of Parliament. Darkness is cheap. lumber-room. and room to spare. All as they should be. he walked through his rooms to see that all was right. which was hanging up in a suspicious attitude against the wall. nobody in the closet. not caring a button for that. Nobody under the bed. Nobody under the table. which is perhaps the reason why Scrooge thought he saw a locomotive hearse going on before him in the gloom. and taken it broadwise. Lumber-room
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. But before he shut his heavy door. He had just enough recollection of the face to desire to do that. nobody under the sofa. so you may suppose that it was pretty dark with Scrooge’s dip. but I mean to say you might have got a hearse up that staircase. with the splinterbar towards the wall and the door towards the balustrades: and done it easy. nobody in his dressing-gown. a small fire in the grate. and the little saucepan of gruel (Scrooge had a cold in his head) upon the hob. Up Scrooge went. Sitting-room.

washing-stand on three legs. and brood over it. designed to illustrate the Scriptures. and a poker. and swallowed up the whole. The fireplace was an old one. and his nightcap. He was obliged to sit close to it. with power to shape some picture on its surface from the disjointed fragments of his thoughts. Queens of Sheba. There were Cains and Abels. he took off his cravat. put on his dressing-gown and slippers. old shoes. which was not his custom. Pharaohs’ daughters. nothing on such a bitter night. came like the ancient Prophet’s rod. If each smooth tile had been a blank at first. seven years dead. Quite satisfied. Belshazzars. Angelic messengers descending through the air on clouds like feather-beds. double-locked himself in. 21 of 138
. Abrahams. there would have been a copy of old Marley’s head on every one. It was a very low fire indeed. and paved all round with quaint Dutch tiles.A Christmas Carol
as usual. and sat down before the fire to take his gruel. Old fire-guards. before he could extract the least sensation of warmth from such a handful of fuel. Thus secured against surprise. built by some Dutch merchant long ago. he closed his door. Apostles putting off to sea in butter-boats. hundreds of figures to attract his thoughts — and yet that face of Marley. and locked himself in. two fish-baskets.

deep down below. They were succeeded by a clanking noise. and with a strange. but it seemed an hour. then coming straight towards his door. and walked across the room. on the floors below. The cellar-door flew open with a booming sound. his glance happened to rest upon a bell. that hung in the room. As he threw his head back in the chair. as if some person were dragging a heavy chain over the casks in the wine merchant’s cellar. he saw this bell begin to swing. inexplicable dread. Scrooge then remembered to have heard that ghosts in haunted houses were described as dragging chains. or a minute. ‘I won’t believe it. a disused bell. It was with great astonishment. and passed into the 22 of 138
. without a pause. and so did every bell in the house. when. he sat down again. The bells ceased as they had begun.A Christmas Carol
‘Humbug!’ said Scrooge. and communicated for some purpose now forgotten with a chamber in the highest story of the building. that as he looked. together. but soon it rang out loudly.’ His colour changed though. This might have lasted half a minute. it came on through the heavy door. then coming up the stairs. ‘It’s humbug still!’ said Scrooge. After several turns. It swung so softly in the outset that it scarcely made a sound. and then he heard the noise much louder.

and marked the very texture of the folded kerchief bound about its head and chin. could see the two buttons on his coat behind. Upon its coming in. The same face: the very same. Scrooge had often heard it said that Marley had no bowels. and fought against his senses. Though he looked the phantom through and through. but he had never believed it until now. the tassels on the latter bristling. ‘What do you want with me?’ 23 of 138
. padlocks. and his coat-skirts. observing him. as though it cried ‘I know him. and looking through his waistcoat. ledgers. keys. and wound about him like a tail. and it was made (for Scrooge observed it closely) of cashboxes. nor did he believe it even now. and the hair upon his head. like his pigtail. caustic and cold as ever. ‘How now!’ said Scrooge.A Christmas Carol
room before his eyes. so that Scrooge. The chain he drew was clasped about his middle. usual waistcoat. His body was transparent. the dying flame leaped up. Marley in his pigtail. and saw it standing before him. No. and heavy purses wrought in steel. which wrapper he had not observed before. tights and boots. he was still incredulous. deeds. Marley’s Ghost!’ and fell again. It was long. though he felt the chilling influence of its death-cold eyes.

‘I don’t. then. ‘Why do you doubt your senses?’
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.’ but substituted this.’ said Scrooge. ‘I can. as if he were quite used to it. ‘You’re particular. it might involve the necessity of an embarrassing explanation. because he didn’t know whether a ghost so transparent might find himself in a condition to take a chair.’ Scrooge asked the question. But the ghost sat down on the opposite side of the fireplace.’ ‘Who were you then?’ said Scrooge. looking doubtfully at him.’ said Scrooge. ‘What evidence would you have of my reality beyond that of your senses?’ ‘I don’t know.’ observed the Ghost. raising his voice. for a shade. and felt that in the event of its being impossible.’ ‘Can you — can you sit down?’ asked Scrooge. ‘In life I was your partner.A Christmas Carol
‘Much!’ — Marley’s voice. no doubt about it. Jacob Marley.’ He was going to say ‘to a shade. ‘You don’t believe in me. as more appropriate. ‘Who are you?’ ‘Ask me who I was.’ ‘Do it.

in the spectre’s being provided with an infernal atmosphere of its own. the very deuce with him. by any means waggish then. 25 of 138
. though it were only for a second. to divert the vision’s stony gaze from himself. too. and keeping down his terror. The truth is. You may be an undigested bit of beef. Scrooge felt. There’s more of gravy than of grave about you. for the spectre’s voice disturbed the very marrow in his bones. but this was clearly the case.A Christmas Carol
‘Because. for the reason just assigned. in his heart. whatever you are!’ Scrooge was not much in the habit of cracking jokes. a crumb of cheese. in silence for a moment. There was something very awful. as a means of distracting his own attention. ‘a little thing affects them. and tassels. nor did he feel. staring at those fixed glazed eyes. returning quickly to the charge. a fragment of an underdone potato. Scrooge could not feel it himself. for though the Ghost sat perfectly motionless. would play. ‘You see this toothpick?’ said Scrooge.’ said Scrooge. and wishing. that he tried to be smart. To sit. a blot of mustard. A slight disorder of the stomach makes them cheats. its hair. were still agitated as by the hot vapour from an oven. and skirts.

Humbug. and clasped his hands before his face. ‘that the spirit within him should walk abroad among his 26 of 138
. ‘notwithstanding. ‘do you believe in me or not?’ ‘I do. ‘Mercy!’ he said. all of my own creation. and be for the rest of my days persecuted by a legion of goblins. ‘You are not looking at it.’ said the Ghost. to save himself from falling in a swoon. that Scrooge held on tight to his chair. I tell you! humbug!’ At this the spirit raised a frightful cry. and why do they come to me?’ ‘It is required of every man.’ the Ghost returned. ‘Dreadful apparition. ‘I must. and shook its chain with such a dismal and appalling noise.’ ‘Well!’ returned Scrooge. But why do spirits walk the earth. as if it were too warm to wear indoors.’ replied the Ghost. when the phantom taking off the bandage round its head. ‘I have but to swallow this.’ said Scrooge. its lower jaw dropped down upon its breast! Scrooge fell upon his knees.A Christmas Carol
‘I do. But how much greater was his horror. ‘But I see it. why do you trouble me?’ ‘Man of the worldly mind!’ replied the Ghost.’ said Scrooge.

’ replied the Ghost. ‘Tell me why?’ ‘I wear the chain I forged in life.’ said Scrooge. ‘Jacob.’ he said. woe is me! — and witness what it cannot share. I girded it on of my own free will. ‘the weight and length of the strong coil you bear yourself? It was full as heavy and as long as this. Speak comfort to me.
fellowmen. and yard by yard.’ pursued the Ghost. Download the free trial version. ‘You are fettered.eBook brought to you by
A Christmas Carol
Create. since. view. It is a ponderous chain!’ Scrooge glanced about him on the floor. and of my own free will I wore it. Is its pattern strange to you?’ Scrooge trembled more and more. it is condemned to do so after death. It is doomed to wander through the world — oh. ‘Old Jacob Marley. but might have shared on earth. Jacob!’
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. and shook its chain and wrung its shadowy hands. ‘I made it link by link. and travel far and wide. trembling. You have laboured on it. and turned to happiness!’ Again the spectre raised a cry. tell me more. seven Christmas Eves ago. imploringly. in the expectation of finding himself surrounded by some fifty or sixty fathoms of iron cable: but he could see nothing. ‘Or would you know. and if that spirit goes not forth in life. and edit PDF.

Incessant torture of remorse. A very little more. ‘And travelling all the time!’ ‘The whole time. is all permitted to me. or getting off his knees.
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. ‘Seven years dead. he did so now. to put his hands in his breeches pockets. though with humility and deference. I cannot linger anywhere. ‘You must have been very slow about it. Ebenezer Scrooge. Nor can I tell you what I would. no peace. ‘It comes from other regions. in a business-like manner. to other kinds of men. I cannot rest. Pondering on what the Ghost had said.’ said the Ghost.A Christmas Carol
‘I have none to give.’ mused Scrooge. but without lifting up his eyes.’ replied the Ghost. ‘Slow!’ the Ghost repeated. ‘No rest. ‘On the wings of the wind.’ the Ghost replied. whenever he became thoughtful. and is conveyed by other ministers. Jacob. I cannot stay. My spirit never walked beyond our counting-house — mark me! — in life my spirit never roved beyond the narrow limits of our money-changing hole. and weary journeys lie before me!’ It was a habit with Scrooge.’ Scrooge observed.’ ‘You travel fast?’ said Scrooge.

that the Ward would have been justified in indicting it for a nuisance. wringing its hands again. and double-ironed. Not to know that any Christian spirit working kindly in its little sphere.’ faltered Scrooge. mercy. ‘Business!’ cried the Ghost. set up another cry. The common welfare was my business. ‘not to know.’ cried the phantom. on hearing this. Not to know that no space of regret can make amends for one life’s opportunity misused! Yet such was I! Oh! such was I!’ ‘But you were always a good man of business. whatever it may be. that ages of incessant labour. ‘Oh! captive. for this earth must pass into eternity before the good of which it is susceptible is all developed. charity. Jacob. forbearance.’ said Scrooge. The Ghost. and clanked its chain so hideously in the dead silence of the night. will find its mortal life too short for its vast means of usefulness. The dealings of my trade were but a drop of water in the comprehensive ocean of my business!’
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. who now began to apply this to himself. by immortal creatures. ‘Mankind was my business. my business. bound. and benevolence.A Christmas Carol
‘You might have got over a great quantity of ground in seven years. all. were.

Why did I walk through crowds of fellowbeings with my eyes turned down.’ said Scrooge. that you have yet a chance and hope of escaping my fate.’ ‘You were always a good friend to me. ‘At this time of the rolling year. ‘Thank ‘ee!’ 30 of 138
.’ said Scrooge.’ It was not an agreeable idea. and flung it heavily upon the ground again.A Christmas Carol
It held up its chain at arm’s length. ‘But don’t be hard upon me! Don’t be flowery. and never raise them to that blessed Star which led the Wise Men to a poor abode! Were there no poor homes to which its light would have conducted me!’ Scrooge was very much dismayed to hear the spectre going on at this rate. ‘Hear me!’ cried the Ghost. Scrooge shivered. as if that were the cause of all its unavailing grief. Ebenezer. ‘I am here to-night to warn you. A chance and hope of my procuring.’ the spectre said ‘I suffer most. and began to quake exceedingly. ‘That is no light part of my penance.’ pursued the Ghost. and wiped the perspiration from his brow.’ ‘I will. ‘My time is nearly gone. I have sat invisible beside you many and many a day. I may not tell. Jacob! Pray!’ ‘How it is that I appear before you in a shape that you can see.

‘Without their visits. He ventured to raise his eyes again. and look that. as before. the spectre took its wrapper from the table.’ said the Ghost. in a faltering voice. ‘by Three Spirits. Jacob?’ hinted Scrooge. when the jaws were brought together by the bandage. and bound it round its head.A Christmas Carol
‘You will be haunted. by the smart sound its teeth made. for your own sake.’ said Scrooge. and found
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. ‘It is.’ Scrooge’s countenance fell almost as low as the Ghost’s had done.’ ‘Couldn’t I take ‘em all at once. Scrooge knew this. ‘Is that the chance and hope you mentioned. when the bell tolls One. you remember what has passed between us!’ When it had said these words. Jacob?’ he demanded. Look to see me no more. The third upon the next night when the last stroke of Twelve has ceased to vibrate.’ ‘I — I think I’d rather not.’ resumed the Ghost. and have it over. ‘Expect the second on the next night at the same hour. ‘you cannot hope to shun the path I tread. Expect the first tomorrow.

Every one of them wore chains like Marley’s Ghost. some few (they might be guilty governments) were linked together. and floated out upon the bleak. When they were within two paces of each other. dark night. The air was filled with phantoms. wandering hither and thither in restless haste. and at every step it took. joined in the mournful dirge. He had been quite familiar with one 32 of 138
. the window raised itself a little. as in surprise and fear: for on the raising of the hand. it was wide open. after listening for a moment. The spectre.A Christmas Carol
his supernatural visitor confronting him in an erect attitude. Not so much in obedience. Scrooge stopped. and moaning as they went. which he did. so that when the spectre reached it. He looked out. It beckoned Scrooge to approach. Scrooge followed to the window: desperate in his curiosity. The apparition walked backward from him. Marley’s Ghost held up its hand. wailings inexpressibly sorrowful and self-accusatory. warning him to come no nearer. with its chain wound over and about its arm. none were free. Many had been personally known to Scrooge in their lives. incoherent sounds of lamentation and regret. he became sensible of confused noises in the air.

from the emotion he had undergone. Whether these creatures faded into mist. Scrooge closed the window. clearly. for good.
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. who cried piteously at being unable to assist a wretched woman with an infant. without undressing. or the lateness of the hour. in human matters. or his glimpse of the Invisible World. And being. went straight to bed. It was double-locked. or mist enshrouded them. and the night became as it had been when he walked home. as he had locked it with his own hands. with a monstrous iron safe attached to its ankle. in a white waistcoat. and the bolts were undisturbed. that they sought to interfere. much in need of repose. and had lost the power for ever. or the fatigues of the day.A Christmas Carol
old ghost. But they and their spirit voices faded together. and fell asleep upon the instant. and examined the door by which the Ghost had entered. upon a door-step. The misery with them all was. or the dull conversation of the Ghost. He tried to say ‘Humbug!’ but stopped at the first syllable. whom it saw below. he could not tell.

to correct this most preposterous clock. Its rapid little pulse beat twelve: and stopped. So he listened for the hour. It isn’t possible that anything has happened to the sun. it isn’t possible.’ The idea being an alarming one. and groped his way to the window. An icicle must have got into the works. and from seven to eight. It was past two when he went to bed. he could scarcely distinguish the transparent window from the opaque walls of his chamber. then stopped. and regularly up to twelve. The clock was wrong. ‘Why. He was obliged to rub the frost off with the sleeve of his dressing-gown
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. it was so dark. he scrambled out of bed. Twelve. ‘that I can have slept through a whole day and far into another night. He was endeavouring to pierce the darkness with his ferret eyes. that looking out of bed.’ said Scrooge. when the chimes of a neighbouring church struck the four quarters.A Christmas Carol
Stave 2: The First of the Three Spirits
When Scrooge awoke. He touched the spring of his repeater. Twelve. To his great astonishment the heavy bell went on from six to seven. and this is twelve at noon.

The more he thought.A Christmas Carol
before he could see anything. that it was still very foggy and extremely cold. This was a great relief. and could make nothing of it. on a sudden. the more perplexed he was. and. Marley’s Ghost bothered him exceedingly. that the Ghost hadwarned him of a visitation when the 35 of 138
. and taken possession of the world.’ and so forth. as there unquestionably would have been if night had beaten off bright day. All he could make out was. like a strong spring released. the more he endeavoured not to think. Ebenezer Scrooge on his order. when he remembered. after mature inquiry that it was all a dream. Every time he resolved within himself. and thought it over and over. and could see very little then. to its first position. would have become a mere United States security if there were no days to count by. and thought. and that there was no noise of people running to and fro. his mind flew back again. ‘Was it a dream or not?’ Scrooge lay in this state until the chime had gone three-quarters more. and thought. and making a great stir. because ‘Three days after sight of this First of Exchange pay to Mr. Scrooge went to bed again. the more he thought. andpresented the same problem to be worked all through.

‘Ding. dull. and Scrooge. dong!’ ‘Half past. but those to which his face was addressed. At length it broke upon his listening ear. and missed the clock. ‘Ding. I tell you. and the curtains of his bed were drawn. The quarter was so long.’ said Scrooge triumphantly.’ said Scrooge. ‘Ding. starting 36 of 138
. nor the curtains at his back. this was. dong!’ ‘A quarter to it. Light flashed up in the room upon the instant.’ said Scrooge. The curtains of his bed were drawn aside.’ said Scrooge. the wisest resolution in his power. dong!’ ‘The hour itself. and. dong!’ ‘A quarter past. The curtains of his bed were drawn aside. hollow. counting. considering that he could no more go to sleep than go to heaven. that he was more than once convinced he must have sunk into a doze unconsciously. ‘and nothing else!’ He spoke before the hour bell sounded. perhaps. Not the curtains at his feet. melancholy ONE.A Christmas Carol
bell tolled one. by a hand. which it now did with a deep. He resolved to lie awake until the hour was passed. ‘Ding.

a great extinguisher for a cap. and being diminished to a child’s proportions. found himself face to face with the unearthly visitor who drew them: as close to it as I am now to you. like those upper members. that from the crown of its head there sprung a bright clear jet of light. most delicately formed. Its hair. which gave him the appearance of having receded from the view. It wore a tunic of the purest white. was white as if with age. 37 of 138
. and yet the face had not a wrinkle in it. Its legs and feet. the sheen of which was beautiful. which it now held under its arm. and round its waist was bound a lustrous belt. by which all this was visible. and which was doubtless the occasion of its using. as if its hold were of uncommon strength. bare. the hands the same. But the strangest thing about it was. and the tenderest bloom was on the skin. It was a strange figure — like a child: yet not so like a child as like an old man. had its dress trimmed with summer flowers. in its duller moments. and. and I am standing in the spirit at your elbow. The arms were very long and muscular. in singular contradiction of that wintry emblem.A Christmas Carol
up into a half-recumbent attitude. were. It held a branch of fresh green holly in its hand. which hung about its neck and down its back. viewed through some supernatural medium.

A Christmas Carol

Even this, though, when Scrooge looked at it with increasing steadiness, was not its strangest quality. For as its belt sparkled and glittered now in one part and now in another, and what was light one instant, at another time was dark, so the figure itself fluctuated in its distinctness: being now a thing with one arm, now with one leg, now with twenty legs, now a pair of legs without a head, now a head without a body: of which dissolving parts, no outline would be visible in the dense gloom wherein they melted away. And in the very wonder of this, it would be itself again; distinct and clear as ever. ‘Are you the Spirit, sir, whose coming was foretold to me.’ asked Scrooge. ‘I am.’ The voice was soft and gentle. Singularly low, as if instead of being so close beside him, it were at a distance. ‘Who, and what are you.’ Scrooge demanded. ‘I am the Ghost of Christmas Past.’ ‘Long Past.’ inquired Scrooge: observant of its dwarfish stature. ‘No. Your past.’ Perhaps, Scrooge could not have told anybody why, if anybody could have asked him; but he had a special desire to see the Spirit in his cap; and begged him to be covered. 38 of 138

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‘What.’ exclaimed the Ghost, ‘would you so soon put out, with worldly hands, the light I give. Is it not enough that you are one of those whose passions made this cap, and force me through whole trains of years to wear it low upon my brow.’ Scrooge reverently disclaimed all intention to offend or any knowledge of having wilfully bonneted the Spirit at any period of his life. He then made bold to inquire what business brought him there. ‘Your welfare.’ said the Ghost. Scrooge expressed himself much obliged, but could not help thinking that a night of unbroken rest would have been more conducive to that end. The Spirit must have heard him thinking, for it said immediately: ‘Your reclamation, then. Take heed.’ It put out its strong hand as it spoke, and clasped him gently by the arm. ‘Rise. and walk with me.’ It would have been in vain for Scrooge to plead that the weather and the hour were not adapted to pedestrian purposes; that bed was warm, and the thermometer a long way below freezing; that he was clad but lightly in his slippers, dressing-gown, and nightcap; and that he had a cold upon him at that time. The grasp, though gentle as a 39 of 138

A Christmas Carol

woman’s hand, was not to be resisted. He rose: but finding that the Spirit made towards the window, clasped his robe in supplication. ‘I am mortal,’ Scrooge remonstrated, ‘and liable to fall.’ ‘Bear but a touch of my hand there,’ said the Spirit, laying it upon his heart,’ and you shall be upheld in more than this.’ As the words were spoken, they passed through the wall, and stood upon an open country road, with fields on either hand. The city had entirely vanished. Not a vestige of it was to be seen. The darkness and the mist had vanished with it, for it was a clear, cold, winter day, with snow upon the ground. ‘Good Heaven!’ said Scrooge, clasping his hands together, as he looked about him. ‘I was bred in this place. I was a boy here.’ The Spirit gazed upon him mildly. Its gentle touch, though it had been light and instantaneous, appeared still present to the old man’s sense of feeling. He was conscious of a thousand odours floating in the air, each one connected with a thousand thoughts, and hopes, and joys, and cares long, long, forgotten. ‘Your lip is trembling,’ said the Ghost. ‘And what is that upon your cheek.’ 40 of 138

‘They have no consciousness of us. ‘I could walk it blindfold. and his heart leap up as they went past. ‘Let us go on. ‘These are but shadows of the things that have been.’ inquired the Spirit. Some shaggy ponies now were seen trotting towards them with boys upon their backs. and winding river.’ The jocund travellers came on. Scrooge knew and named them every one. who called to other boys in country gigs and carts. and begged the Ghost to lead him where he would.’ observed the Ghost. until a little market-town appeared in the distance. ‘You recollect the way.’ said the Ghost. driven by farmers. and shouted to each other. All these boys were in great spirits. that it was a pimple. Why did his cold eye glisten. Scrooge recognising every gate. and tree. Why was he filled with gladness when he heard them give each 41 of 138
. ‘Remember it. and as they came.A Christmas Carol
Scrooge muttered. Why was he rejoiced beyond all bounds to see them. its church.’ ‘Strange to have forgotten it for so many years. until the broad fields were so full of merry music. and post. with an unusual catching in his voice. with its bridge. that the crisp air laughed to hear it.’ cried Scrooge with fervour.’ They walked along the road.

for their several homes. and 42 of 138
. for the spacious offices were little used. What was merry Christmas to Scrooge. and a bell hanging in it. Nor was it more retentive of its ancient state. Out upon merry Christmas. with a little weathercock-surmounted cupola. across the hall. the Ghost and Scrooge. is left there still. by a well-remembered lane. but one of broken fortunes. and the coach-houses and sheds were over-run with grass. and glancing through the open doors of many rooms. on the roof. It was a large house. for entering the dreary hall.’ said the Ghost. ‘A solitary child. they found them poorly furnished.A Christmas Carol
other Merry Christmas. to a door at the back of the house. What good had it ever done to him. within. They left the high-road. cold. There was an earthy savour in the air. ‘The school is not quite deserted. and their gates decayed. and vast. a chilly bareness in the place. It opened before them. their walls were damp and mossy. which associated itself somehow with too much getting up by candle-light. as they parted at cross-roads and bye-ways. And he sobbed. their windows broken. They went. Fowls clucked and strutted in the stables.’ Scrooge said he knew it. and not too much to eat. neglected by his friends. and soon approached a mansion of dull red brick.

Yes. intent upon his reading. he did come. not a squeak and scuffle from the mice behind the panelling. Not a latent echo in the house. when yonder solitary child was left here all alone. made barer still by lines of plain deal forms and desks. not a sigh among the leafless boughs of one despondent poplar. One Christmas time.’ and his wild brother. not a clicking in the fire. in foreign garments: wonderfully real and distinct to look at: stood outside the window. And what’s his name. not the idle swinging of an empty store-house door. and leading by the bridle an ass laden with wood.A Christmas Carol
disclosed a long. there they go. ‘Why.’ Scrooge exclaimed in ecstasy. melancholy room. yes. And Valentine. it’s Ali Baba. but fell upon the heart of Scrooge with a softening influence. who 43 of 138
. and wept to see his poor forgotten self as he used to be. not a drip from the half-thawed water-spout in the dull yard behind. and pointed to his younger self. Poor boy. The Spirit touched him on the arm. just like that. and gave a freer passage to his tears. no. At one of these a lonely boy was reading near a feeble fire. Orson.’ said Scrooge. with an axe stuck in his belt. Suddenly a man. I know. bare. ‘It’s dear old honest Ali Baba. for the first time. and Scrooge sat down upon a form.

A Christmas Carol
was put down in his drawers. ‘Poor boy. and to see his heightened and excited face. at the Gate of Damascus. he called him. It was the Parrot. running for his life to the little creek. Hoop. with a rapidity of transition very foreign to his usual character. there he is. ‘Green body and yellow tail. Poor Robin Crusoe. he said. with a thing like a lettuce growing out of the top of his head. when he came home again after sailing round the island. would have been a surprise to his business friends in the city.’ Then. Hallo. Halloa. in pity for his former self. And the Sultan’s Groom turned upside down by the Genii. in a most extraordinary voice between laughing and crying. don’t you see him.
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. indeed.’ The man thought he was dreaming. ‘Poor Robin Crusoe. What business had he to be married to the Princess. where have you been. I’m glad of it. There goes Friday.’ and cried again.’ cried Scrooge. ‘There’s the Parrot. there he is upon his head. Serve him right. but he wasn’t. asleep. Robin Crusoe. you know.’ To hear Scrooge expending all the earnestness of his nature on such subjects.

and putting her arms about his neck. when all the other boys had gone home for the jolly holidays. It opened. fragments of plaster fell out of the ceiling. and looking about him. There was a boy singing a Christmas Carol at my door last night. ‘Nothing. but walking up and down despairingly. I should like to have given him something: that’s all.’ asked the Spirit. He only knew that it was quite correct. and 45 of 138
.’ The Ghost smiled thoughtfully. and waved its hand: saying as it did so. Scrooge knew no more than you do. He was not reading now. the windows cracked. and the room became a little darker and more dirty. alone again. much younger than the boy. and a little girl. ‘Nothing. glanced anxiously towards the door. The panels shrunk. and with a mournful shaking of his head. but how all this was brought about.’ said Scrooge. that everything had happened so. Scrooge looked at the Ghost. ‘Let us see another Christmas. and the naked laths were shown instead. that there he was.A Christmas Carol
‘I wish.’ Scrooge’s former self grew larger at the words.’ Scrooge muttered.’ ‘What is the matter. came darting in. putting his hand in his pocket. after drying his eyes with his cuff: ‘but it’s too late now.

for ever and ever.’ ‘You are quite a woman. Father is so much kinder than he used to be. but being too little. home. that I was not afraid to ask him once more if you might come home. and bending down to laugh. clapping her tiny hands. that home’s like Heaven. ‘Yes. and stood on tiptoe to embrace him. ‘Bring down Master Scrooge’s box. Then she began to drag him. you should. ‘To bring you home. nothing loth to go. and he said Yes. laughed again.’ said the child. for good and all. addressed him as her ‘Dear. dear brother. brimful of glee. Home. opening her eyes. little Fan.’ and in the hall appeared the 46 of 138
. dear brother.’ returned the boy. A terrible voice in the hall cried.’ and are never to come back here. accompanied her. we’re to be together all the Christmas long. She clapped her hands and laughed. there.’ exclaimed the boy.A Christmas Carol
often kissing him. and sent me in a coach to bring you. and tried to touch his head.’ ‘Home. towards the door. and have the merriest time in all the world. but first. little Fan. He spoke so gently to me one dear night when I was going to bed.’ ‘I have come to bring you home. And you’re to be a man. in her childish eagerness. home. and he.’ said the child.’ said the child. ‘Home.

’
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. God forbid. who answered that he thanked the gentleman. the children bade the schoolmaster good-bye right willingly. where the maps upon the wall. and the celestial and terrestrial globes in the windows. and administered instalments of those dainties to the young people: at the same time. who glared on Master Scrooge with a ferocious condescension. and getting into it. ‘Always a delicate creature. drove gaily down the garden-sweep: the quick wheels dashing the hoar-frost and snow from off the dark leaves of the evergreens like spray. but if it was the same tap as he had tasted before.’ said the Ghost.’ cried Scrooge.’ ‘So she had. I will not gainsay it. and a block of curiously heavy cake.A Christmas Carol
schoolmaster himself. and threw him into a dreadful state of mind by shaking hands with him. Master Scrooge’s trunk being by this time tied on to the top of the chaise. he had rather not. sending out a meagre servant to offer a glass of something to the postboy. whom a breath might have withered. were waxy with cold. He then conveyed him and his sister into the veriest old well of a shivering best-parlour that ever was seen. Spirit. ‘You’re right. ‘But she had a large heart. Here he produced a decanter of curiously light wine.

‘Know it. ‘True. At sight of an old gentleman in a Welsh wig.’ They went in.’ said Scrooge. sitting behind such a high desk. ‘I was apprenticed here.A Christmas Carol
‘She died a woman. Bless his heart. by the dressing of the shops. that here too it was Christmas time again. that if he had been two inches taller he must have knocked his head against the ceiling.’
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. children.’ said the Ghost.’ Scrooge seemed uneasy in his mind.’ ‘One child. ‘Your nephew. where shadowy carts and coaches battle for the way. as I think. and the streets were lighted up. where shadowy passengers passed and repassed. and asked Scrooge if he knew it. it’s Fezziwig alive again. it’s old Fezziwig.’ Although they had but that moment left the school behind them. Scrooge cried in great excitement: ‘Why. they were now in the busy thoroughfares of a city. It was made plain enough. and all the strife and tumult of a real city were. The Ghost stopped at a certain warehouse door. and answered briefly. but it was evening. ‘and had.’ Scrooge returned. ‘Yes.’ said the Ghost.

and called out in a comfortable. laughed all over himself. rich.’ You wouldn’t believe how those two fellows went at it. Christmas Eve. five. Christmas. There he is. with a sharp clap of his hands. oily. my lads. Ebenezer. He was very much attached to me. there.’ before a man can say Jack Robinson. Dear.
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.’ Scrooge’s former self. to be sure. jovial voice: ‘Yo ho. ‘Clear away. six — barred them and pinned then — seven. my boys. They charged into the street with the shutters — one. ‘Hilli-ho!’ cried old Fezziwig. came briskly in. eight.’ said Scrooge to the Ghost. and looked up at the clock. Poor Dick. ‘Bless me. with wonderful agility.A Christmas Carol
Old Fezziwig laid down his pen. three — had them up in their places — four. ‘Dick Wilkins.’ said Fezziwig. adjusted his capacious waistcoat. two. He rubbed his hands. skipping down from the high desk. ‘No more work tonight. Ebenezer. now grown a young man. Let’s have the shutters up. from his shows to his organ of benevolence. yes.’ ‘Yo ho. accompanied by his fellow-prentice. panting like race-horses. fat. which pointed to the hour of seven. was Dick.’ cried old Fezziwig. nine — and came back before you could have got to twelve. Dick. dear. Dick.

beaming and lovable. Every movable was packed off. In came Mrs Fezziwig. and the warehouse was as snug. and went up to the lofty desk. In came a fiddler with a music-book. Chirrup.’ Clear away. with her cousin. and bright a ball-room. one vast substantial smile. Hilli-ho. It was done in a minute. and tuned like fifty stomach-aches. as you would desire to see upon a winter’s night. or couldn’t have cleared away. as if it were dismissed from public life for evermore. In they all 50 of 138
. Dick.A Christmas Carol
and let’s have lots of room here. with old Fezziwig looking on. fuel was heaped upon the fire. In came the boy from over the way. In came all the young men and women employed in the business. and made an orchestra of it. the floor was swept and watered. the milkman. and warm. Ebenezer. trying to hide himself behind the girl from next door but one. who was suspected of not having board enough from his master. There was nothing they wouldn’t have cleared away. In came the housemaid. with her brother’s particular friend. the lamps were trimmed. and dry. In came the six young followers whose hearts they broke. In came the cook. the baker. In came the three Miss Fezziwigs. who was proved to have had her ears pulled by her mistress.

or perish. twenty couples at once. old top couple always turning up in the wrong place. and there were forfeits. cried out. clapping his hands to stop the dance. hands half round and back again the other way. all top couples at last. and there was a great piece of Cold Boiled. and edit PDF. some boldly. some pulling. in they all came. and he were a bran-new man resolved to beat him out of sight. some shyly. anyhow and everyhow. Download the free trial version. There were more dances. round and round in various stages of affectionate grouping. exhausted.
came. upon his reappearance. down the middle and up again. one after another. and there was negus.eBook brought to you by
A Christmas Carol
Create. old Fezziwig. new top couple starting off again. and there was cake. as if the other fiddler had been carried home. Away they all went.’ Well done. when the fiddler (an 51 of 138
. especially provided for that purpose. When this result was brought about. But scorning rest. some awkwardly. and plenty of beer. and there were mince-pies. and more dances. as soon as they got there. he instantly began again. view. on a shutter. But the great effect of the evening came after the Roast and Boiled. and there was a great piece of Cold Roast. and not a bottom one to help them.’ and the fiddler plunged his hot face into a pot of porter. some gracefully. some pushing. though there were no dancers yet.

and I’ll use it. thread-theneedle. three or four and twenty pair of partners. that he appeared to wink with his legs. too. at any given time.) struck up Sir Roger de Coverley. You couldn’t have predicted. advance and retire. mind. people who would dance. four times — old Fezziwig would have been a match for them.’ Then old Fezziwig stood out to dance with Mrs Fezziwig. Fezziwig cut — cut so deftly. corkscrew. and back again to your place. and came upon his feet again without a stagger. They shone in every part of the dance like moons. The sort of man who knew his business better than you or I could have told it him. both hands to your partner. As to her. with a good stiff piece of work cut out for them. one on 52 of 138
. what would have become of them next. And when old Fezziwig and Mrs Fezziwig had gone all through the dance. she was worthy to be his partner in every sense of the term. bow and curtsey. Mr and Mrs Fezziwig took their stations.A Christmas Carol
artful dog. tell me higher. and had no notion of walking. But if they had been twice as many — ah. and so would Mrs Fezziwig. this domestic ball broke up. If that’s not high praise. A positive light appeared to issue from Fezziwig’s calves. When the clock struck eleven. people who were not to be trifled with. Top couple.

and underwent the strangest agitation. while the light upon its head burnt very clear. which were under a counter in the back-shop. and the lads were left to their beds. and shaking hands with every person individually as he or she went out. ‘Why. when the bright faces of his former self and Dick were turned from them. It was not until now. said.’ 53 of 138
. Is that so much that he deserves this praise. During the whole of this time. Scrooge had acted like a man out of his wits. wished him or her a Merry Christmas. they did the same to them. ‘A small matter. The Spirit signed to him to listen to the two apprentices. and thus the cheerful voices died away. He corroborated everything. and became conscious that it was looking full upon him. enjoyed everything.’ echoed Scrooge. His heart and soul were in the scene. He has spent but a few pounds of your mortal money: three or four perhaps.’ ‘Small. When everybody had retired but the two prentices.A Christmas Carol
either side of the door.’ said the Ghost. that he remembered the Ghost. and with his former self. who were pouring out their hearts in praise of Fezziwig: and when he had done so. Is it not. remembered everything. ‘to make these silly folks so full of gratitude.

heated by the remark. He has the power to render us happy or unhappy. but it had begun to wear the signs of care and avarice.’ He felt the Spirit’s glance. ‘Nothing in particular. ‘Quick. in things so slight and insignificant that it is impossible to add and count them up: what then. greedy. Spirit.’ No. and speaking unconsciously like his former.’ observed the Spirit. For again Scrooge saw himself. or to any one whom he could see. not his latter. Say that his power lies in words and looks. ‘It isn’t that.’ asked the Ghost.’ This was not addressed to Scrooge. I think. a man in the prime of life. There was an eager. He was older now. is quite as great as if it cost a fortune.’ said Scrooge. but it produced an immediate effect. I should like to be able to say a word or two to my clerk just now. and stopped. The happiness he gives. That’s all.’ said Scrooge. to make our service light or burdensome. ‘My time grows short. ‘Something. restless 54 of 138
. a pleasure or a toil. ‘What is the matter.’ said Scrooge.’ the Ghost insisted. ‘No. His face had not the harsh and rigid lines of later years. self. and Scrooge and the Ghost again stood side by side in the open air.’ His former self turned down the lamps as he gave utterance to the wish.A Christmas Carol
‘It isn’t that.

‘It matters little. ‘A golden one. as I would have tried to do. Have I not.’ 55 of 138
. engrosses you. Gain. ‘To you. I have seen your nobler aspirations fall off one by one.’ he said. until the masterpassion.’ ‘What Idol has displaced you. and there is nothing it professes to condemn with such severity as the pursuit of wealth.’ he rejoined. and where the shadow of the growing tree would fall. very little. ‘There is nothing on which it is so hard as poverty. I have no just cause to grieve.’ ‘You fear the world too much. gently.’ ‘What then. ‘Even if I have grown so much wiser. which sparkled in the light that shone out of the Ghost of Christmas Past. softly. ‘All your other hopes have merged into the hope of being beyond the chance of its sordid reproach.’ ‘This is the even-handed dealing of the world. which showed the passion that had taken root.’ he retorted.A Christmas Carol
motion in the eye.’ she answered.’ she said. I am not changed towards you. Another idol has displaced me. but sat by the side of a fair young girl in a mourning-dress: in whose eyes there were tears. what then. He was not alone. and if it can cheer and comfort you in time to come.

would you seek me out and try to win me now. and can release you. in an altered spirit. you were another man. It is enough that I have thought of it. is fraught with misery now that we are two. No.’ ‘Have I ever sought release.’ he said impatiently.’ ‘In a changed nature.’ ‘In what. Never.A Christmas Carol
She shook her head. In everything that made my love of any worth or value in your sight. in another atmosphere of life. looking mildly. Ah. If this had never been between us. another Hope as its great end.’ ‘In words. When it was made. It was made when we were both poor and content to be so. upon him. That which promised happiness when we were one in heart.’ said the girl. but with steadiness. we could improve our worldly fortune by our patient industry.’ 56 of 138
.’ ‘Our contract is an old one. ‘I am. ‘Am I. in good season. You are changed.’ tell me. ‘Your own feeling tells you that you were not what you are. until. I will not say.’ ‘I was a boy.’ she returned. then. How often and how keenly I have thought of this. no.

can even I believe that you would choose a dowerless girl — you who. yesterday. When I have learned a Truth like this.’ ‘I would gladly think otherwise if I could. With a full heart. very brief time. ‘You may — the memory of what is past half makes me hope you will — have pain in this. gladly.’ she answered.’ You think not. do I not know that your repentance and regret would surely follow. to-morrow. ‘Heaven knows. for the love of him you once were. May you be happy in the life you have chosen. in spite of himself. I know how strong and irresistible it must be. if for a moment you were false enough to your one guiding principle to do so. weigh everything by Gain: or. she resumed. and they parted. as an unprofitable dream. in your very confidence with her. I do.A Christmas Carol
He seemed to yield to the justice of this supposition. and you will dismiss the recollection of it.’ He was about to speak. choosing her. But he said with a struggle.
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. But if you were free to-day. but with her head turned from him.’ She left him. A very. from which it happened well that you awoke. and I release you.

not very large or handsome. The noise in this room was perfectly tumultuous. but no one seemed to care. ‘No more.’ ‘One shadow more. Show me no more. but full of comfort.’ said Scrooge. Why do you delight to torture me.’ But the relentless Ghost pinioned him in both his arms. unlike the celebrated herd in the poem. they were not forty children conducting themselves like one. Conduct me home.’ exclaimed the Ghost. a room. and the latter. The consequences were uproarious beyond belief. Though I never could have been so rude. for there were more children there. and. and enjoyed it very much. no. but every child was conducting itself like forty. no. now a comely matron. I wouldn’t for the 58 of 138
.A Christmas Carol
‘Spirit. than Scrooge in his agitated state of mind could count. so like that last that Scrooge believed it was the same. ‘No more. sitting opposite her daughter.’ cried Scrooge. until he saw her. What would I not have given to one of them.’ show me no more. I don’t wish to see it. the mother and daughter laughed heartily. soon beginning to mingle in the sports. and forced him to observe what happened next. Near to the winter fire sat a beautiful young girl. on the contrary. They were in another scene and place. got pillaged by the young brigands most ruthlessly.

and such a rush immediately ensued that she with laughing face and plundered dress was borne towards it the centre of a flushed and boisterous group. to have looked upon the lashes of her downcast eyes. an inch of which would be a keepsake beyond price: in short. As to measuring her waist in sport. The scaling him with chairs for ladders to dive into his pockets. I couldn’t have done it. despoil him of brown-paper parcels. Then the shouting and the struggling. and torn it down. But now a knocking at the door was heard. and yet to have been man enough to know its value. to have let loose waves of hair. hug him round his 59 of 138
. just in time to greet the father. and the onslaught that was made on the defenceless porter. to save my life. as they did. I own. I do confess. who came home attended by a man laden with Christmas toys and presents. I should have liked. and for the precious little shoe.A Christmas Carol
wealth of all the world have crushed that braided hair. to have had the lightest licence of a child. I should have expected my arm to have grown round it for a punishment. hold on tight by his cravat. God bless my soul. And yet I should have dearly liked. to have touched her lips. and never raised a blush. I wouldn’t have plucked it off. that she might have opened them. to have questioned her. and never come straight again. bold young brood.

and was more than suspected of having swallowed a fictitious turkey. They are all indescribable alike. and gratitude. sat down with her and her mother at his own fireside.’ said the husband. might have called him father.’ ‘Who was it. up to the top of the house. turning to his wife with a smile. quite as graceful and as full of promise. his sight grew very dim indeed. The immense relief of finding this a false alarm. where they went to bed. The joy.’ 60 of 138
. and kick his legs in irrepressible affection. and when he thought that such another creature.’ I saw an old friend of yours this afternoon. when the master of the house. and by one stair at a time. glued on a wooden platter. and so subsided.A Christmas Carol
neck.’ ‘Guess. ‘Belle. The terrible announcement that the baby had been taken in the act of putting a doll’s frying-pan into his mouth. pommel his back. It is enough that by degrees the children and their emotions got out of the parlour. And now Scrooge looked on more attentively than ever. and been a spring-time in the haggard winter of his life. The shouts of wonder and delight with which the development of every package was received. having his daughter leaning fondly on him. and ecstasy.

and seeing that it looked upon him with a face. wrestled with it. and there he sat alone. he
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.’ In the struggle. in which in some strange way there were fragments of all the faces it had shown him. Haunt me no longer. don’t I know. I do believe. I passed his office window.’ said the Ghost. His partner lies upon the point of death. I hear.’ she added in the same breath.’ said Scrooge in a broken voice.’ remove me from this place. and as it was not shut up.’ ‘Remove me. Tut. Scrooge observed that its light was burning high and bright.’ Scrooge exclaimed. and dimly connecting that with its influence over him.’ ‘Mr Scrooge it was. ‘Mr Scrooge.’ I cannot bear it. Quite alone in the world. Take me back.’ ‘I told you these were shadows of the things that have been. I could scarcely help seeing him. if that can be called a struggle in which the Ghost with no visible resistance on its own part was undisturbed by any effort of its adversary. ‘Leave me.A Christmas Carol
‘How can I.’ ‘Spirit. do not blame me.’ He turned upon the Ghost. and he had a candle inside. ‘That they are what they are. laughing as he laughed.

but though Scrooge pressed it down with all his force. He was conscious of being exhausted.
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. which streamed from under it. The Spirit dropped beneath it. so that the extinguisher covered its whole form. and by a sudden action pressed it down upon its head. in which his hand relaxed. further. before he sank into a heavy sleep. of being in his own bedroom. and overcome by an irresistible drowsiness.A Christmas Carol
seized the extinguisher-cap. in an unbroken flood upon the ground. he could not hide the light. He gave the cap a parting squeeze. and had barely time to reel to bed. and.

who plume themselves on being acquainted with a move or two. he wished to challenge the Spirit on the moment of its appearance. view. between which opposite extremes. he put them every one aside with his own hands. and made nervous. and did not wish to be taken by surprise. finding that he turned uncomfortably cold when he began to wonder which of his curtains this new spectre would draw back.eBook brought to you by
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Create. established a sharp look-out all round the bed. and sitting up in bed to get his thoughts together. Gentlemen of the free-and-easy sort. Download the free trial version. for the especial purpose of holding a conference with the second messenger despatched to him through Jacob Marley’s intervention. Scrooge had no occasion to be told that the bell was again upon the stroke of One.
Stave 3: The Second of the Three Spirits
Awaking in the middle of a prodigiously tough snore. and lying down again. and being usually equal to the time-of-day. He felt that he was restored to consciousness in the right nick of time. no
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. express the wide range of their capacity for adventure by observing that they are good for anything from pitch-and-toss to manslaughter. and edit PDF. For. But.

and that nothing between a baby and rhinoceros would have astonished him very much.A Christmas Carol
doubt. however. he began to think that the source and secret of this 64 of 138
. ten minutes. which streamed upon it when the clock proclaimed the hour. a quarter of an hour went by. and was sometimes apprehensive that he might be at that very moment an interesting case of spontaneous combustion. being prepared for almost anything. was more alarming than a dozen ghosts. when the Bell struck One. and. Now. or would be at. he was taken with a violent fit of trembling. the very core and centre of a blaze of ruddy light. he began to think — as you or I would have thought at first. without having the consolation of knowing it. At last. All this time. and which. I say. consequently. I don’t mind calling on you to believe that he was ready for a good broad field of strange appearances. yet nothing came. he lay upon his bed. and would unquestionably have done it too — at last. for it is always the person not in the predicament who knows what ought to have been done in it. and no shape appeared. he was not by any means prepared for nothing. Without venturing for Scrooge quite as hardily as this. being only light. as he was powerless to make out what it meant. there lies a tolerably wide and comprehensive range of subjects. Five minutes.

The moment Scrooge’s hand was on the lock. and ivy reflected back the light. geese. brawn. long wreaths of sausages. It was his own room. In easy 65 of 138
. and seething bowls of punch. He obeyed. or Marley’s. or for many and many a winter season gone. as that dull petrification of a hearth had never known in Scrooge’s time.A Christmas Carol
ghostly light might be in the adjoining room. luscious pears. were turkeys. that made the chamber dim with their delicious steam. and such a mighty blaze went roaring up the chimney. bright gleaming berries glistened. that it looked a perfect grove. There was no doubt about that. red-hot chestnuts. The crisp leaves of holly. immense twelfth-cakes. from every part of which. great joints of meat. barrels of oysters. The walls and ceiling were so hung with living green. But it had undergone a surprising transformation. from whence. a strange voice called him by his name. to form a kind of throne. This idea taking full possession of his mind. as if so many little mirrors had been scattered there. cherry-cheeked apples. juicy oranges. it seemed to shine. sucking-pigs. on further tracing it. poultry. mince-pies. game. plum-puddings. he got up softly and shuffled in his slippers to the door. and bade him enter. Heaped up on the floor. mistletoe.

man. ‘Come in.’ exclaimed the Ghost. its cheery voice. and held it up. or mantle. and on its head it wore no other covering than a holly wreath. set here and there with shining icicles. high up. were also bare. and its joyful air. who bore a glowing torch. ‘I am the Ghost of Christmas Present. bordered with white fur. Its feet. Its dark brown curls were long and free. he did not like to meet them. free as its genial face. its open hand. that its capacious breast was bare. glorious to see. and hung his head before this Spirit.’ Scrooge reverently did so. as he came peeping round the door. and know me better. This garment hung so loosely on the figure.’ said the Spirit. ‘Look upon me. Girded round its middle was an antique
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. and though the Spirit’s eyes were clear and kind.A Christmas Carol
state upon this couch. its sparkling eye.’ Scrooge entered timidly. He was not the dogged Scrooge he had been. It was clothed in one simple green robe. in shape not unlike Plenty’s horn. its unconstrained demeanour. ‘Come in. as if disdaining to be warded or concealed by any artifice. there sat a jolly Giant. to shed its light on Scrooge. observable beneath the ample folds of the garment.

the fire. the hour of night. ‘Spirit. brawn. but no sword was in it.’ Scrooge did as he was told. if you have aught to teach me. Spirit.’ said Scrooge.’ ‘More than eighteen hundred. all vanished instantly.’ pursued the Phantom. To-night. ‘Have never walked forth with the younger members of my family. turkeys. let me profit by it.’ Scrooge made answer to it. and the ancient sheath was eaten up with rust. poultry.’ exclaimed the Spirit. The Ghost of Christmas Present rose.A Christmas Carol
scabbard. pies. ivy. ‘A tremendous family to provide for.’ said the Ghost. and 67 of 138
. red berries.’ ‘Touch my robe. sausages.’ muttered Scrooge. fruit. ‘You have never seen the like of me before.’ said Scrooge submissively. I went forth last night on compulsion. and held it fast. meaning (for I am very young) my elder brothers born in these later years. the ruddy glow. ‘I am afraid I have not. ‘I don’t think I have. game. Have you had many brothers. pigs. and I learnt a lesson which is working now. mistletoe. geese. puddings. So did the room.’ conduct me where you will. Holly. and punch. meat. oysters. ‘Never.

where (for the weather was severe) the people made a rough. There was nothing very cheerful in the climate or the town. and were blazing away to their dear hearts’ content. which last deposit had been ploughed up in deep furrows by the heavy wheels of carts and waggons. half frozen. caught fire. in scraping the snow from the pavement in front of their dwellings. by one consent. and the windows blacker. The house fronts looked black enough. and the shortest streets were choked up with a dingy mist. contrasting with the smooth white sheet of snow upon the roofs. and with the dirtier snow upon the ground. whose heavier particles descended in shower of sooty atoms. The sky was gloomy. furrows that crossed and recrossed each other hundreds of times where the great streets branched off. whence it was mad delight to the boys to see it come plumping down into the road below. half thawed. hard to trace in the thick yellow mud and icy water. and from the tops of their houses.A Christmas Carol
they stood in the city streets on Christmas morning. and made intricate channels. and yet was there an air of cheerfulness abroad that the clearest summer air and
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. as if all the chimneys in Great Britain had. but brisk and not unpleasant kind of music. and splitting into artificial little snow-storms.

and pleasant shufflings ankle deep through 69 of 138
. lolling at the doors.A Christmas Carol
brightest summer sun might have endeavoured to diffuse in vain. and glanced demurely at the hung-up mistletoe. the people who were shovelling away on the housetops were jovial and full of glee. in their fragrance. calling out to one another from the parapets. round. in the shopkeepers’ benevolence to dangle from conspicuous hooks. round. For. there were bunches of grapes. and the fruiterers’ were radiant in their glory. broad-girthed Spanish onions. The poulterers’ shops were still half open. recalling. made. and winking from their shelves in wanton slyness at the girls as they went by. There were pears and apples. mossy and brown. There were ruddy. pot-bellied baskets of chestnuts. and tumbling out into the street in their apoplectic opulence. brown-faced. shaped like the waistcoats of jolly old gentlemen. There were great. ancient walks among the woods. and now and then exchanging a facetious snowball — better-natured missile far than many a wordy jest — laughing heartily if it went right and not less heartily if it went wrong. shining in the fatness of their growth like Spanish Friars. there were piles of filberts. clustered high in blooming pyramids. that people’s mouths might water gratis as they passed.

setting off the yellow of the oranges and lemons. the almonds so extremely white. there were Norfolk Biffins. or even that the raisins were so plentiful and rare. in the great compactness of their juicy persons. the sticks of cinnamon so long and straight. though members of a dull and stagnant-blooded race. Nor was it that the figs were moist and pulpy. The Grocers’. or even that the blended scents of tea and coffee were so grateful to the nose. set forth among these choice fruits in a bowl. or that the French plums blushed in 70 of 138
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withered leaves. oh the Grocers’. urgently entreating and beseeching to be carried home in paper bags and eaten after dinner. went gasping round and round their little world in slow and passionless excitement. It was not alone that the scales descending on the counter made a merry sound. or that the canisters were rattled up and down like juggling tricks. or that the twine and roller parted company so briskly. nearly closed. and. the other spices so delicious. the candied fruits so caked and spotted with molten sugar as to make the coldest lookers-on feel faint and subsequently bilious. and. squab and swarthy. or one. but through those gaps such glimpses. The very gold and silver fish. to a fish. appeared to know that there was something going on. with perhaps two shutters down.

and away they came. while the Grocer and his people were so frank and fresh that the polished hearts with which they fastened their aprons behind might have been their own. to church and chapel. lanes. and left their purchases upon the counter. and taking off the covers as their bearers passed.A Christmas Carol
modest tartness from their highly-decorated boxes. The sight of these poor revellers appeared to interest the Spirit very much. for once or twice 71 of 138
. or that everything was good to eat and in its Christmas dress. for he stood with Scrooge beside him in a baker’s doorway. flocking through the streets in their best clothes. But soon the steeples called good people all. but the customers were all so hurried and so eager in the hopeful promise of the day. and with their gayest faces. and for Christmas daws to peck at if they chose. sprinkled incense on their dinners from his torch. crashing their wicker baskets wildly. And at the same time there emerged from scores of byestreets. innumerable people. And it was a very uncommon kind of torch. that they tumbled up against each other at the door. and came running back to fetch them. and committed hundreds of the like mistakes. in the best humour possible. carrying their dinners to the baker’ shops. and nameless turnings. worn outside for general inspection.

’ ‘Spirit. And so it was. and the bakers were shut up.A Christmas Carol
when there were angry words between some dinnercarriers who had jostled each other.
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. after a moment’s thought.’ ‘Why to a poor one most.’ asked Scrooge. My own. In time the bells ceased. ‘Is there a peculiar flavour in what you sprinkle from your torch. of all the beings in the many worlds about us. so it was. and yet there was a genial shadowing forth of all these dinners and the progress of their cooking. God love it. To a poor one most. ‘Because it needs it most.’ asked Scrooge.’ cried the Spirit. where the pavement smoked as if its stones were cooking too.’ ‘Would it apply to any kind of dinner on this day.’ ‘I.’ said Scrooge. ‘There is. ‘To any kindly given. in the thawed blotch of wet above each baker’s oven. he shed a few drops of water on them from it. and their good humour was restored directly. For they said. it was a shame to quarrel upon Christmas Day. should desire to cramp these people’s opportunities of innocent enjoyment.’ I wonder you.’ asked Scrooge.

who are as strange to us and all our kith and kin.A Christmas Carol
‘You would deprive them of their means of dining every seventh day. not us. into the suburbs of the town.
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. invisible. that notwithstanding his gigantic size. hatred. ‘And it comes to the same thing. Remember that. and they went on.’ exclaimed the Spirit.’ said Scrooge. ill-will. and who do their deeds of passion. envy.’ ‘I seek. and selfishness in our name.’ said Scrooge. ‘There are some upon this earth of yours. as they had been before.’ Scrooge promised that he would. or at least in that of your family. It was a remarkable quality of the Ghost (which Scrooge had observed at the baker’s). he could accommodate himself to any place with ease.’ ‘I.’ who lay claim to know us. pride.’ cried the Spirit. as it was possible he could have done in any lofty hall. as if they had never lived. ‘Wouldn’t you. ‘You seek to close these places on the Seventh Day. ‘Forgive me if I am wrong. It has been done in your name. and that he stood beneath a low roof quite as gracefully and like a supernatural creature.’ said Scrooge. and charge their doings on themselves. bigotry. often the only day on which they can be said to dine at all.’ returned the Spirit.

Cratchit’s wife. Think of that.A Christmas Carol
And perhaps it was the pleasure the good Spirit had in showing off this power of his. and yet the Ghost of Christmas Present blessed his four-roomed house. that led him straight to Scrooge’s clerk’s. he pocketed on Saturdays but fifteen copies of his Christian name. and his sympathy with all poor men. generous. which are cheap and make a goodly show for sixpence. Bob had but fifteen bob a-week himself. and she laid the cloth. Then up rose Mrs Cratchit. holding to his robe. conferred upon his son and heir in honour of the day) into his mouth. and took Scrooge with him. rejoiced to find himself so gallantly attired. And now two smaller Cratchits. hearty nature. screaming that outside the baker’s they had smelt the goose. for there he went. while Master Peter Cratchit plunged a fork into the saucepan of potatoes. and getting the corners of his monstrous shirt collar (Bob’s private property. or else it was his own kind. assisted by Belinda Cratchit. and on the threshold of the door the Spirit smiled. and yearned to show his linen in the fashionable Parks. and known it for their 74 of 138
. boy and girl. came tearing in. and stopped to bless Bob Cratchit’s dwelling with the sprinkling of his torch. also brave in ribbons. second of her daughters. but brave in ribbons. dressed out but poorly in a twice-turned gown.

no.’ replied the girl. Tiny Tim. view. Martha.
own. hide. mother. my dear. Download the free trial version. these young Cratchits danced about the table. while he (not proud.eBook brought to you by
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Create. knocked loudly at the saucepan-lid to be let out and peeled. ‘What has ever got your precious father then. ‘Sit ye down before the fire. bless your heart alive.’ 75 of 138
. until the slow potatoes bubbling up. my dear. Lord bless ye.’ ‘No. and taking off her shawl and bonnet for her with officious zeal. who were everywhere at once. how late you are. ‘Hurrah. ‘Hide. ‘Here’s Martha. There’s such a goose.’ ‘Here’s Martha.’ said Mrs Cratchit. ‘And your brother. and have a warm. mother. and edit PDF.’ cried the two young Cratchits.’ said a girl. and exalted Master Peter Cratchit to the skies. appearing as she spoke. Martha. although his collars nearly choked him) blew the fire.’ ‘Why. kissing her a dozen times. ‘We’d a deal of work to finish up last night. and basking in luxurious thoughts of sage and onion. Never mind so long as you are come. And Martha warn’t as late last Christmas Day by half-an-hour.’ cried the two young Cratchits.’ said Mrs Cratchit. mother.’ and had to clear away this morning.’ ‘Well. There’s father coming.’ said Mrs Cratchit.

asked Mrs Cratchit.’ and better.’ Martha didn’t like to see him disappointed. for he had been Tim’s blood horse all the way from church. the father. Alas for Tiny Tim. when she had rallied Bob on his credulity. ‘And how did little Tim behave. and had his limbs supported by an iron frame. that he might hear the pudding singing in the copper. ‘Not coming. and Bob had hugged his daughter to his heart’s content. with at least three feet of comforter exclusive of the fringe. ‘Not coming upon Christmas Day. and in came little Bob. ‘Not coming. and thinks the 76 of 138
. with a sudden declension in his high spirits.’ said Mrs Cratchit. Somehow he gets thoughtful.A Christmas Carol
So Martha hid herself. and Tiny Tim upon his shoulder. hanging down before him.’ said Bob. and had come home rampant. ‘As good as gold. and ran into his arms. so she came out prematurely from behind the closet door. if it were only in joke. where’s our Martha. sitting by himself so much. looking round. and bore him off into the wash-house.’ said Bob. he bore a little crutch. ‘Why. to look seasonable. while the two young Cratchits hustled Tiny Tim.’ cried Bob Cratchit. and his threadbare clothes darned up and brushed.

and the two ubiquitous young Cratchits went to fetch the goose. and blind men see. who made lame beggars walk.A Christmas Carol
strangest things you ever heard. a feathered phenomenon. and trembled more when he said that Tiny Tim was growing strong and hearty. turning up his cuffs — as if. He told me. Mrs Cratchit made the gravy (ready beforehand in a little saucepan) hissing hot. Master Peter. escorted by his brother and sister to his stool before the fire. His active little crutch was heard upon the floor. and stirred it round and round and put it on the hob to simmer.’ Bob’s voice was tremulous when he told them this. and it might be pleasant to them to remember upon Christmas Day. and back came Tiny Tim before another word was spoken. to which a black swan was a matter of course — and in truth it was something very like it in that house. poor fellow. Such a bustle ensued that you might have thought a goose the rarest of all birds. because he was a cripple. and while Bob. that he hoped the people saw him in the church. with which they soon returned in high procession. they were capable of being made more shabby — compounded some hot mixture in a jug with gin and lemons. coming home. Master Peter mashed the potatoes with 77 of 138
.

and when the long expected gush of stuffing issued forth. and feebly cried Hurrah. as Mrs Cratchit said with great delight (surveying one small atom of a bone upon the dish). were steeped in sage and 78 of 138
. Martha dusted the hot plates.A Christmas Carol
incredible vigour. excited by the two young Cratchits. and even Tiny Tim. crammed spoons into their mouths. Its tenderness and flavour. and the youngest Cratchits in particular. There never was such a goose. one murmur of delight arose all round the board. lest they should shriek for goose before their turn came to be helped. the two young Cratchits set chairs for everybody. Miss Belinda sweetened up the applesauce. size and cheapness. looking slowly all along the carving-knife. Bob said he didn’t believe there ever was such a goose cooked. but when she did. Bob took Tiny Tim beside him in a tiny corner at the table. Eked out by apple-sauce and mashed potatoes. At last the dishes were set on. prepared to plunge it in the breast. It was succeeded by a breathless pause. indeed. and mounting guard upon their posts. Yet every one had had enough. were the themes of universal admiration. it was a sufficient dinner for the whole family. and grace was said. they hadn’t ate it all at last. not forgetting themselves. beat on the table with the handle of his knife. as Mrs Cratchit.

that he regarded it as the greatest success achieved by Mrs Cratchit since their marriage. and calmly too. Suppose somebody should have got over the wall of the back-yard. Mrs Cratchit said that now the weight was off her mind. she would confess she had had her doubts about the quantity 79 of 138
. In half a minute Mrs Cratchit entered — flushed. and stolen it. The pudding was out of the copper. Mrs Cratchit left the room alone — too nervous to bear witnesses — to take the pudding up and bring it in. A great deal of steam. A smell like a washing-day. Suppose it should not be done enough.A Christmas Carol
onion to the eyebrows. the plates being changed by Miss Belinda. Oh. A smell like an eating-house and a pastrycook’s next door to each other. That was the cloth. Bob Cratchit said. But now. like a speckled cannon-ball. but smiling proudly — with the pudding. a wonderful pudding. so hard and firm. Hallo. That was the pudding. while they were merry with the goose — a supposition at which the two young Cratchits became livid. Suppose it should break in turning out. and bedight with Christmas holly stuck into the top. with a laundress’s next door to that. All sorts of horrors were supposed. blazing in half of half-a-quartern of ignited brandy.

the cloth was cleared. Two tumblers. and at Bob Cratchit’s elbow stood the family display of glass. and the fire made up. The compound in the jug being tasted. He sat very close to his father’s side upon his little stool. my dears. the hearth swept. ‘God bless us every one. and considered perfect. It would have been flat heresy to do so. 80 of 138
. At last the dinner was all done. in what Bob Cratchit called a circle. and a shovel-full of chestnuts on the fire. and Bob served it out with beaming looks. Then all the Cratchit family drew round the hearth. apples and oranges were put upon the table. however. and a custard-cup without a handle. and wished to keep him by his side. but nobody said or thought it was at all a small pudding for a large family. while the chestnuts on the fire sputtered and cracked noisily. Everybody had something to say about it. God bless us. as if he loved the child. as well as golden goblets would have done. meaning half a one. and dreaded that he might be taken from him. the last of all. Bob held his withered little hand in his.A Christmas Carol
of flour.’ said Tiny Tim. These held the hot stuff from the jug.’ Which all the family re-echoed. Then Bob proposed: ‘A Merry Christmas to us all. Any Cratchit would have blushed to hint at such a thing.

‘Man. forbear that wicked cant until you have discovered What the surplus is. It may be.’ said Scrooge. ‘in the poor chimney-corner. what men shall die. that in the sight of Heaven. the child will die. say he will be spared. carefully preserved. with an interest he had never felt before.’ returned the Ghost. ‘tell me if Tiny Tim will live.’ replied the Ghost. none other of my race. Oh God. If he be like to die.’ Scrooge hung his head to hear his own words quoted by the Spirit. he had better do it.’
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.’ ‘If these shadows remain unaltered by the Future. you are more worthless and less fit to live than millions like this poor man’s child. no. Will you decide what men shall live. What then. and a crutch without an owner. to hear the Insect on the leaf pronouncing on the too much life among his hungry brothers in the dust. ‘will find him here. If these shadows remain unaltered by the Future.’ ‘I see a vacant seat.A Christmas Carol
‘Spirit. ‘if man you be in heart. and was overcome with penitence and grief. ‘Oh. not adamant.’ ‘No. kind Spirit. and decrease the surplus population.’ said Scrooge. and Where it is. no.’ said the Ghost.

You know he is. ‘on which one drinks the health of such an odious. ‘Christmas Day. hard.’ said she. the Founder of the Feast. He’ll be very merry and very happy. I have no doubt.’ ‘It should be Christmas Day. unfeeling man as Mr Scrooge. stingy.’ cried Mrs Cratchit. ‘Mr Scrooge. It was the first of their proceedings which had no heartiness. Long life to him. ‘not for his. Robert. Nobody knows it better than you do.’ ‘My dear. Christmas Day. ‘I’ll give you Mr Scrooge. Tiny Tim drank it last of all.A Christmas Carol
Scrooge bent before the Ghost’s rebuke. but he didn’t care twopence for it. But he raised them speedily. poor fellow.’ said Mrs Cratchit.’ was Bob’s mild answer. ‘the children. I’d give him a piece of my mind to feast upon.’ ‘I’ll drink his health for your sake and the Day’s.’ The children drank the toast after her. ‘I wish I had him here. and I hope he’d have a good appetite for it.’ said Bob.’ said Bob. A merry Christmas and a happy new year.’ ‘The Founder of the Feast indeed. reddening. I am sure. and trembling cast his eyes upon the ground. Scrooge was the Ogre of the family.’ ‘My dear. The mention of his 82 of 138
. on hearing his own name.

who was a poor apprentice at a milliner’s. and by-andbye they had a song. and Peter himself looked thoughtfully at the fire from between his collars. they were ten times merrier than before. Also how she had seen a countess and a lord some days before. from the mere relief of Scrooge the Baleful being done with. Bob Cratchit told them how he had a situation in his eye for Master Peter. which was not dispelled for full five minutes. and how the lord was much about as tall as Peter. at which Peter pulled up his collars so high that you couldn’t have seen his head if you had been there. which would bring in.A Christmas Carol
name cast a dark shadow on the party. All this time the chestnuts and the jug went round and round. to-morrow being a holiday she passed at home. After it had passed away. and how she meant to lie abed to-morrow morning for a good long rest. if obtained. Martha. as if he were deliberating what particular investments he should favour when he came into the receipt of that bewildering income. full five-and-sixpence weekly. and how many hours she worked at a stretch. then told them what kind of work she had to do. The two young Cratchits laughed tremendously at the idea of Peter’s being a man of business. about a lost child travelling in the
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.

until the last. again. they were happy. their clothes were scanty. they were not well dressed. and be the first to greet them. Here. and all sorts of rooms. and Peter might have known. By this time it was getting dark. ready to be drawn to shut out cold and darkness. There was nothing of high mark in this. from Tiny Tim. the flickering of the blaze showed preparations for a cosy dinner. cousins. pleased with one another. But. grateful. who had a plaintive little voice. and as Scrooge and the Spirit went along the streets. Scrooge had his eye upon them. Here. and there a group of handsome 84 of 138
. and especially on Tiny Tim. and when they faded. with hot plates baking through and through before the fire. brothers. and looked happier yet in the bright sprinklings of the Spirit’s torch at parting. They were not a handsome family. the inside of a pawnbroker’s. parlours. aunts. and deep red curtains. and sang it very well indeed. uncles. There all the children of the house were running out into the snow to meet their married sisters. and contented with the time. and very likely did. and snowing pretty heavily. was wonderful. were shadows on the windowblind of guests assembling. the brightness of the roaring fires in kitchens.A Christmas Carol
snow. their shoes were far from being water-proof.

How it bared its breadth of breast. dotting the dusky street with specks of light. and piling up its fires half-chimney high. and all chattering at once. you might have thought that no one was at home to give them welcome when they got there. and nothing grew but moss and 85 of 138
. But. if you had judged from the numbers of people on their way to friendly gatherings. though little kenned the lamplighter that he had any company but Christmas.A Christmas Carol
girls. instead of every house expecting company. how the Ghost exulted. without a word of warning from the Ghost. and floated on. Blessings on it. The very lamplighter. with a generous hand. all hooded and fur-booted. outpouring. where monstrous masses of rude stone were cast about. its bright and harmless mirth on everything within its reach. where. tripped lightly off to some near neighbour’s house. And now. they stood upon a bleak and desert moor. laughed out loudly as the Spirit passed. but for the frost that held it prisoner. as though it were the burial-place of giants. well they knew it — in a glow. who ran on before. and water spread itself wheresoever it listed. and opened its capacious palm. woe upon the single man who saw them enter — artful witches. and who was dressed to spend the evening somewhere. or would have done so.

The old man. Passing through the wall of mud and stone. all decked out gaily in their holiday attire. which glared upon the desolation for an instant. Down in the west the setting sun had left a streak of fiery red. 86 of 138
. lower. was lost in the thick gloom of darkest night. the old man got quite blithe and loud.A Christmas Carol
furze.’ A light shone from the window of a hut. old man and woman. ‘But they know me. they found a cheerful company assembled round a glowing fire. ‘What place is this. ‘A place where Miners live. and frowning lower. and passing on above the moor. See.’ asked Scrooge. sped — whither. but bade Scrooge hold his robe. and another generation beyond that. his vigour sank again. The Spirit did not tarry here. with their children and their children’s children. was singing them a Christmas song — it had been a very old song when he was a boy — and from time to time they all joined in the chorus. like a sullen eye. So surely as they raised their voices. and swiftly they advanced towards it. who labour in the bowels of the earth. An old.’ returned the Spirit. lower yet. and so surely as they stopped. in a voice that seldom rose above the howling of the wind upon the barren waste. and coarse rank grass.

Great heaps of sea-weed clung to its base. and his ears were deafened by the thundering of water. as he told Scrooge. and fiercely tried to undermine the earth. 87 of 138
. and storm-birds — born of the wind one might suppose. and one of them: the elder. as it rolled and roared. on which the waters chafed and dashed. two men who watched the light had made a fire. as sea-weed of the water — rose and fell about it. To sea. on — until. and raged among the dreadful caverns it had worn. as the figure-head of an old ship might be: struck up a sturdy song that was like a Gale in itself. behind them.
Not to sea. a frightful range of rocks. they wished each other Merry Christmas in their can of grog. view. and edit PDF. Built upon a dismal reef of sunken rocks. Download the free trial version. there stood a solitary lighthouse. But even here. Joining their horny hands over the rough table at which they sat. with his face all damaged and scarred with hard weather. above the black and heaving sea — on. like the waves they skimmed. some league or so from shore.eBook brought to you by
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Create. too. To Scrooge’s horror. looking back. being far away. that through the loophole in the thick stone wall shed out a ray of brightness on the awful sea. he saw the last of the land. the wild year through. Again the Ghost sped on.

and looking at that same nephew with approving affability. while thus engaged. They stood beside the helmsman at the wheel. while listening to the moaning of the wind. with the Spirit standing smiling by his side. had had a kinder word for another on that day than on any day in the year. the look-out in the bow.’ 88 of 138
.’ laughed Scrooge’s nephew. dark. or spoke below his breath to his companion of some bygone Christmas Day. gleaming room. It was a much greater surprise to Scrooge to recognise it as his own nephew’s and to find himself in a bright. dry. but every man among them hummed a Christmas tune. ha. to hear a hearty laugh. ha. or had a Christmas thought. and had shared to some extent in its festivities. good or bad. ha. whose depths were secrets as profound as Death: it was a great surprise to Scrooge. ‘Ha. It was a great surprise to Scrooge. and had remembered those he cared for at a distance. with homeward hopes belonging to it. waking or sleeping. And every man on board. the officers who had the watch. they lighted on a ship. ghostly figures in their several stations.A Christmas Carol
from any shore. and thinking what a solemn thing it was to move on through the lonely darkness over an unknown abyss. ‘Ha. and had known that they delighted to remember him.

’ ‘More shame for him. laughed as heartily as he. ha. that while there is infection in disease and sorrow. that melted into one another when she laughed. to know a man more blest in a laugh than Scrooge’s nephew. When Scrooge’s nephew laughed in this way: holding his sides. and twisting his face into the most extravagant contortions: Scrooge’s niece. ha. ha.A Christmas Carol
If you should happen. Fred.’ cried Scrooge’s nephew. ‘He believed it too. all kinds of good little dots about her chin. roared out lustily. there is nothing in the world so irresistibly contagious as laughter and good-humour. and the 89 of 138
. Bless those women. ha. a ripe little mouth. and I’ll cultivate his acquaintance. even-handed. I should like to know him too. that seemed made to be kissed — as no doubt it was. Introduce him to me. capital face. noble adjustment of things.’ ‘He said that Christmas was a humbug. all I can say is. Ha. rolling his head.’ said Scrooge’s niece. by any unlikely chance. She was very pretty: exceedingly pretty. They are always in earnest. surprised-looking. they never do anything by halves. indignantly. With a dimpled. by marriage. And their assembled friends being not a bit behindhand. ‘Ha. as I live. It is a fair.

’ ‘What of that. ‘At least you always tell me so. He hasn’t the satisfaction of thinking — ha. ‘I am sorry for him.’ said Scrooge’s nephew. However. but satisfactory. he takes it into his head to dislike us.’ said Scrooge’s nephew. I think he loses a very good dinner. and he won’t come and dine with us. ‘His wealth is of no use to him.’ ‘I’m sure he is very rich. Everybody else said the same. He don’t make himself comfortable with it. 90 of 138
. and I have nothing to say against him. ha.’ interrupted Scrooge’s niece. Here. Altogether she was what you would have called provoking. and all the other ladies. ha. Who suffers by his ill whims.’ observed Scrooge’s niece.’ said Scrooge’s nephew. my dear.’ ‘Indeed. always. I have. ‘He’s a comical old fellow.’ that’s the truth: and not so pleasant as he might be.’ hinted Scrooge’s niece.A Christmas Carol
sunniest pair of eyes you ever saw in any little creature’s head. Scrooge’s niece’s sisters.’ ‘I have no patience with him. Himself. his offences carry their own punishment. ‘Oh. He don’t do any good with it. Fred. What’s the consequence. you know. I couldn’t be angry with him if I tried. expressed the same opinion. He don’t lose much of a dinner. — that he is ever going to benefit us with it.

’ said Scrooge’s niece. as I think. by lamplight. He is such a ridiculous fellow. I’m very glad to hear it. Topper. his example was unanimously followed. ‘Well. is. because they had just had dinner. and as it was impossible to keep the infection off. What do you say.’ Scrooge’s nephew revelled in another laugh. and not making merry with us.’ that the consequence of his taking a dislike to us. I am 91 of 138
. and. for he answered that a bachelor was a wretched outcast. though the plump sister tried hard to do it with aromatic vinegar. with the dessert upon the table. who had no right to express an opinion on the subject.A Christmas Carol
and they must be allowed to have been competent judges.’ said Scrooge’s nephew. were clustered round the fire.’ said Scrooge’s nephew. Fred. clapping her hands.’ Topper had clearly got his eye upon one of Scrooge’s niece’s sisters. that he loses some pleasant moments. ‘because I haven’t great faith in these young housekeepers. Whereat Scrooge’s niece’s sister — the plump one with the lace tucker: not the one with the roses — blushed. ‘I was only going to say. ‘Do go on. which could do him no harm. ‘He never finishes what he begins to say.

so that they laughed at any rate. I mean to give him the same chance every year. but he can’t help thinking better of it — I defy him — if he finds me going there. they had some music. and not much caring what they laughed at. that’s something. He may rail at Christmas till he dies. and I think I shook him yesterday. or get red in the face over it. and saying Uncle Scrooge. and never swell the large veins in his forehead. for I pity him. If it only puts him in the vein to leave his poor clerk fifty pounds. and knew what they were about.A Christmas Carol
sure he loses pleasanter companions than he can find in his own thoughts.’ It was their turn to laugh now at the notion of his shaking Scrooge. But being thoroughly good-natured. either in his mouldy old office. which had been familiar to the child who 92 of 138
. in good temper. he encouraged them in their merriment. For they were a musical family. or his dusty chambers. and passed the bottle joyously. how are you. who could growl away in the bass like a good one. when they sung a Glee or Catch. After tea. year after year. and played among other tunes a simple little air (a mere nothing: you might learn to whistle it in two minutes). Scrooge’s niece played well upon the harp. I can assure you: especially Topper. whether he likes it or not.

When this strain of music sounded. there went he. After a while they played at forfeits. and that the Ghost of Christmas Present knew it. And I no more believe Topper was really blind than I believe he had eyes in his boots. without resorting to the sexton’s spade that buried Jacob Marley. on 93 of 138
. he might have cultivated the kindnesses of life for his own happiness with his own hands. My opinion is. came upon his mind. was an outrage on the credulity of human nature. all the things that Ghost had shown him. he softened more and more. Knocking down the fire-irons. If you had fallen up against him (as some of them did). that it was a done thing between him and Scrooge’s nephew. bumping against the piano. wherever she went. There was first a game at blind-man’s buff. The way he went after that plump sister in the lace tucker. for it is good to be children sometimes. Stop. when its mighty Founder was a child himself. years ago. He wouldn’t catch anybody else. smothering himself among the curtains. and never better than at Christmas. tumbling over the chairs. and thought that if he could have listened to it often. as he had been reminded by the Ghost of Christmas Past. Of course there was.A Christmas Carol
fetched Scrooge from the boarding-school. He always knew where the plump sister was. But they didn’t devote the whole evening to music.

was vile. and a certain chain about her neck. but was made comfortable with a large chair and a footstool.A Christmas Carol
purpose. he would have made a feint of endeavouring to seize you. When. For his pretending not to know her. which would have been an affront to your understanding. he caught her. his pretending that it was necessary to touch her head-dress. he got her into a corner whence there was no escape. monstrous. another blind-man being in office. and her rapid flutterings past him. beat her sisters hollow: though they 94 of 138
. and loved her love to admiration with all the letters of the alphabet. in a snug corner. where the Ghost and Scrooge were close behind her. she was very great. they were so very confidential together. when. then his conduct was the most execrable. Scrooge’s niece was not one of the blind-man’s buff party. in spite of all her silken rustlings. But she joined in the forfeits. and it really was not. behind the curtains. when. and Where. and further to assure himself of her identity by pressing a certain ring upon her finger. She often cried out that it wasn’t fair. No doubt she told him her opinion of it. But when at last. Likewise at the game of How. and to the secret joy of Scrooge’s nephew. and would instantly have sidled off in the direction of the plump sister.

Spirit. for. a live animal. as the case was. and so did Scrooge. a savage animal. too. and looked upon him with such favour. and lived in London. young and old. The brisk fire of questioning to which he was exposed. and very often guessed quite right. and talked sometimes. he only answering to their questions yes or no. that he begged like a boy to be allowed to stay until the guests departed.’ It was a Game called Yes and No. rather a disagreeable animal. There might have been twenty people there. wholly forgetting the interest he had in what was going on. where Scrooge’s nephew had to think of something. and walked about the streets. as could have told you. an animal that growled and grunted sometimes. The Ghost was greatly pleased to find him in this mood. But this the Spirit said could not be done. only one. and wasn’t made a show of. elicited from him that he was thinking of an animal. that his voice made no sound in their ears.’ said Scrooge. and wasn’t 95 of 138
. and the rest must find out what. was not sharper than Scrooge. blunt as he took it in his head to be. for the sharpest needle. warranted not to cut in the eye.A Christmas Carol
were sharp girls too. ‘One half hour. ‘Here is a new game. he sometimes came out with his guess quite loud. best Whitechapel. but they all played.

this nephew burst into a fresh roar of laughter. and didn’t live in a menagerie. At every fresh question that was put to him. and was so inexpressibly tickled. cried out: ‘I have found it out. I am sure. that he was obliged to get up off the sofa and stamp.‘‘ ‘Well. or a bull. Admiration was the universal sentiment. Here is a glass of mulled wine ready to our hand at the moment. or an ass. falling into a similar state. or a dog. or a pig. and was never killed in a market.’ Which it certainly was.’ ought to have been ‘Yes. Uncle Scrooge. Fred. or a cat. or a tiger.’ and it would be ungrateful not to drink his health. and was not a horse. ‘Uncle Scrooge.’ ‘What is it.’ they cried. or a cow.’ said Fred. I know what it is.A Christmas Carol
led by anybody.
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. though some objected that the reply to ‘Is it a bear. or a bear. ‘He has given us plenty of merriment. and I say. I know what it is. ‘It’s your Uncle Scrooge.’ inasmuch as an answer in the negative was sufficient to have diverted their thoughts from Mr Scrooge.’ cried Fred. At last the plump sister. supposing they had ever had any tendency that way.

where vain man in his little brief authority had not made fast the door and barred the Spirit out. but Scrooge had his doubts of this. and many homes they visited. if the Ghost had given him time. that while Scrooge 97 of 138
. and they were cheerful. and jail. nevertheless. ‘He wouldn’t take it from me. but may he have it. The Spirit stood beside sick beds.A Christmas Carol
‘A Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to the old man. in misery’s every refuge. and thanked them in an inaudible speech. if it were only a night. and far they went. and taught Scrooge his precepts. and it was rich. too. but always with a happy end.’ said Scrooge’s nephew. whatever he is. because the Christmas Holidays appeared to be condensed into the space of time they passed together. In almshouse. hospital. on foreign lands. It was a long night.’ Uncle Scrooge had imperceptibly become so gay and light of heart. Much they saw. and they were close at home. But the whole scene passed off in the breath of the last word spoken by his nephew. and he and the Spirit were again upon their travels. that he would have pledged the unconscious company in return. he left his blessing. and they were patient in their greater hope. It was strange. Uncle Scrooge. by struggling men. by poverty.

Scrooge had observed this change. Is it a foot or a claw. looking at the Spirit as they stood together in an open place. hideous.
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.’ asked Scrooge. ‘Forgive me if I am not justified in what I ask. ‘Look here.’ replied the Ghost.’ cried Scrooge. protruding from your skirts.’ From the foldings of its robe. wretched. for the flesh there is upon it. Hark.’ but I see something strange.’ ‘It might be a claw. it brought two children.’ ‘To-night. when. is very brief. until they left a children’s Twelfth Night party. They knelt down at its feet. and not belonging to yourself. ‘It ends to-night. ‘To-night at midnight.’ said Scrooge. The time is drawing near. clearly older.’ was the Spirit’s sorrowful reply. but never spoke of it. abject.’ The chimes were ringing the three quarters past eleven at that moment. he noticed that its hair was grey. ‘My life upon this globe. frightful.A Christmas Carol
remained unaltered in his outward form. looking intently at the Spirit’s robe. miserable. the Ghost grew older. and clung upon the outside of its garment. ‘Are spirits’ lives so short.

rather than be parties to a lie of such enormous magnitude. ragged.’ said the Spirit. and pulled them into shreds. and all of their degree. a stale and shrivelled hand. Download the free trial version. Where graceful youth should have filled their features out. and twisted them.’ exclaimed the Ghost.eBook brought to you by
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Create. ‘They are Man’s. look here. Yellow. down here. look. unless the writing be erased. he tried to say they were fine children. 99 of 138
. too. Where angels might have sat enthroned. Having them shown to him in this way. ‘Spirit. through all the mysteries of wonderful creation.
‘Oh. wolfish. had pinched. in any grade. Deny it. and glared out menacing. for on his brow I see that written which is Doom. ‘And they cling to me. appalled. has monsters half so horrible and dread. looking down upon them. This girl is Want. meagre. and touched them with its freshest tints. in their humility. Man. no degradation. no perversion of humanity. like that of age. and edit PDF. They were a boy and a girl.’ cried the Spirit. devils lurked. scowling. are they yours.’ Scrooge could say no more. but the words choked themselves. No change. but most of all beware this boy. Scrooge started back. view. appealing from their fathers. Look. This boy is Ignorance. Beware them both. but prostrate.

‘Slander those who tell it ye. and lifting up his eyes.’ ‘Have they no refuge or resource. beheld a solemn Phantom.’ cried Scrooge. coming.’ The bell struck twelve. he remembered the prediction of old Jacob Marley. like a mist along the ground. ‘Are there no prisons.
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. turning on him for the last time with his own words. draped and hooded. Scrooge looked about him for the Ghost.A Christmas Carol
stretching out its hand towards the city. and saw it not.’ said the Spirit. and make it worse. As the last stroke ceased to vibrate. Admit it for your factious purposes. towards him. ‘Are there no workhouses. And abide the end.

and separate it from the darkness by which it was surrounded. ‘You are about to show me shadows of the things that have not happened.’ said Scrooge. ‘I am in the presence of the Ghost of Christmas Yet To Come.A Christmas Carol
Stave 4: The Last of the Spirits
The Phantom slowly. ‘Is that so. which concealed its head. He knew no more. its face. and left nothing of it visible save one outstretched hand. silently approached. When it came. gravely. but will happen in the time before us. The Spirit answered not. Spirit. It was shrouded in a deep black garment. But for this it would have been difficult to detach its figure from the night. but pointed onward with its hand. He felt that it was tall and stately when it came beside him. for the Spirit neither spoke nor moved. its form.’ Scrooge pursued. Scrooge bent down upon his knee.’
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. for in the very air through which this Spirit moved it seemed to scatter gloom and mystery. and that its mysterious presence filled him with a solemn dread.

Will you not speak to me. ‘Ghost of the Future. I am prepared to bear you company.’ I fear you more than any spectre I have seen. The Spirit pauses a moment. Although well used to ghostly company by this time.
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. The hand was pointed straight before them. and do it with a thankful heart. Scrooge feared the silent shape so much that his legs trembled beneath him. to know that behind the dusky shroud. though he stretched his own to the utmost. and he found that he could hardly stand when he prepared to follow it.’ he exclaimed. as if the Spirit had inclined its head. there were ghostly eyes intently fixed upon him. could see nothing but a spectral hand and one great heap of black. That was the only answer he received. But Scrooge was all the worse for this.A Christmas Carol
The upper portion of the garment was contracted for an instant in its folds. But as I know your purpose is to do me good. and as I hope to live to be another man from what I was. while he. It thrilled him with a vague uncertain horror. as observing his condition. and giving him time to recover.’ It gave him no reply.

Spirit. Observing that the hand was pointed to them. ‘No. ‘Last night. I believe.’ The Phantom moved away as it had come towards him. The Spirit stopped beside one little knot of business men. Lead on. and conversed in groups. and looked at their watches. he thought.’ said Scrooge. But there they were. I only know he’s dead.’ I don’t know much about it.’ said a great fat man with a monstrous chin.’ inquired another.’ ‘When did he die. and so forth. who hurried up and down. and trifled thoughtfully with their great gold seals. which bore him up. amongst the merchants. Scrooge advanced to listen to their talk. for the city rather seemed to spring up about them. ‘Lead on. as Scrooge had seen them often. They scarcely seemed to enter the city.A Christmas Carol
‘Lead on. The night is waning fast.’
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. and encompass them of its own act. and it is precious time to me. either way. and chinked the money in their pockets. in the heart of it. and carried him along. I know. on Change. Scrooge followed in the shadow of its dress.

after all. ‘I thought he’d never die. if I make one. When I come to think of it. I’m not at all sure that I wasn’t his most particular friend. I am the most disinterested among you. for we used to stop and speak whenever we met. what was the matter with him.’ asked a red-faced gentleman with a pendulous excrescence on the end of his nose. that shook like the gills of a turkey-cock.’ said the same speaker.’ for I never wear black gloves.’ observed the gentleman with the excrescence on his nose.’ said the man with the large chin. yawning again.’ for upon my life I don’t know of anybody to go to it. ‘It’s likely to be a very cheap funeral. ‘Well.’ ‘I don’t mind going if a lunch is provided.’ said the first speaker. with a yawn. That’s all I know. Suppose we make up a party and volunteer.’ Another laugh.’ asked a third. ‘Left it to his company. if anybody else will.A Christmas Carol
‘Why.’ ‘God knows. He hasn’t left it to me. and I never eat lunch. ‘I haven’t heard. But I’ll offer to go. ‘What has he done with his money.’ said the first. taking a vast quantity of snuff out of a very large snuffbox. perhaps.’ 104 of 138
.’ This pleasantry was received with a general laugh. ‘But I must be fed. bye. Bye.

No. Its finger pointed to two persons meeting. but feeling assured that they must 105 of 138
. ‘How are you. hey.’ Not another word.A Christmas Carol
Speakers and listeners strolled away.’ returned the second. their conversation.’ said the first. ‘Old Scratch has got his own at last. perfectly. Scrooge was at first inclined to be surprised that the Spirit should attach importance to conversations apparently so trivial. thinking that the explanation might lie here. Something else to think of. ‘How are you. You’re not a skater. ‘Well.’ returned the other. I suppose. Scrooge listened again.’ ‘So I am told. and their parting. that is. The Phantom glided on into a street.’ ‘Seasonable for Christmas time. That was their meeting. and mixed with other groups. strictly in a business point of view. and looked towards the Spirit for an explanation. They were men of aye business: very wealthy.’ said one. He had made a point always of standing well in their esteem: in a business point of view.’ ‘No. also. Good morning. Scrooge knew the men. He knew these men. and of great importance. isn’t it. ‘Cold.

Quiet and dark. and though the clock pointed to his usual time of day for being there. For he had an expectation that the conduct of his future self would give him the clue he missed. to whom he could apply them. But nothing doubting that to whomsoever they applied they had some latent moral for his own improvement.A Christmas Carol
have some hidden purpose. beside him stood the Phantom. he set himself to consider what it was likely to be. 106 of 138
. and everything he saw. and thought and hoped he saw his new-born resolutions carried out in this. It gave him little surprise. for he had been revolving in his mind a change of life. and would render the solution of these riddles easy. he fancied from the turn of the hand. with its outstretched hand. and this Ghost’s province was the Future. They could scarcely be supposed to have any bearing on the death of Jacob. but another man stood in his accustomed corner. and especially to observe the shadow of himself when it appeared. his old partner. Nor could he think of any one immediately connected with himself. he resolved to treasure up every word he heard. He looked about in that very place for his own image. for that was Past. he saw no likeness of himself among the multitudes that poured in through the Porch. however. When he roused himself from his thoughtful quest.

with filth. and sepulchres of bones. below a pent-house roof. upon the straggling streets. bones. 107 of 138
. Far in this den of infamous resort. there was a lowbrowed. although he recognised its situation. made of old bricks. Upon the floor within. They left the busy scene. masses of corrupted fat. Alleys and archways. and misery. beetling shop. and life. were bought. by a frousy curtaining of miscellaneous tatters. and its bad repute. and feel very cold.A Christmas Carol
and its situation in reference to himself. by a charcoal stove. bottles. The ways were foul and narrow. where Scrooge had never penetrated before. who had screened himself from the cold air without. nearly seventy years of age. the shops and houses wretched. drunken. and the whole quarter reeked with crime. It made him shudder. Secrets that few would like to scrutinise were bred and hidden in mountains of unseemly rags. and greasy offal. were piled up heaps of rusty keys. and dirt. that the Unseen Eyes were looking at him keenly. nails. hinges. was a grey-haired rascal. where iron. disgorged their offences of smell. files. Sitting in among the wares he dealt in. ugly. like so many cesspools. slipshod. scales. and went into an obscure part of the town. the people half-naked. old rags. and refuse iron of all kinds. weights. chains.

you know.A Christmas Carol
hung upon a line. ha. Ah. and let the undertaker’s man alone to be the third. If we haven’t all three met here without meaning it. here’s a chance. ‘Let the laundress alone to be the second.’ cried she who had entered first. There an’t such a rusty bit of metal in the place as its own hinges. they all three burst into a laugh. in which the old man with the pipe had joined them. You were made free of it long ago. and she was closely followed by a man in faded black. old Joe.
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. After a short period of blank astonishment. Look here. and the other two an’t strangers. Stop till I shut the door of the shop. I believe.’ said old Joe. Ha. But she had scarcely entered. ‘Let the charwoman alone to be the first. when another woman. just as a woman with a heavy bundle slunk into the shop. removing his pipe from his mouth. who was no less startled by the sight of them. How it skreeks. similarly laden. than they had been upon the recognition of each other. and I’m sure there’s no such old bones here. Scrooge and the Phantom came into the presence of this man. and smoked his pipe in all the luxury of calm retirement.’ ‘You couldn’t have met in a better place. ‘Come into the parlour. as mine. came in too.

put it in his mouth again.’ said the laundress. ‘No man more so. ‘What odds then. 109 of 138
. Not a dead man. the woman who had already spoken threw her bundle on the floor.’ The parlour was the space behind the screen of rags.’ ‘No. ‘We should hope not. I suppose. laughing. I suppose. He always did. indeed. ‘That’s enough. with the stem of his pipe. and looking with a bold defiance at the other two.’ said Mrs Dilber.’ cried the woman. and sat down in a flaunting manner on a stool. ‘Every person has a right to take care of themselves.A Christmas Carol
We’re all suitable to our calling.’ said the woman. What odds.’ ‘That’s true. and having trimmed his smoky lamp (for it was night). Who’s the worse for the loss of a few things like these.’ ‘Why then. Come into the parlour. We’re not going to pick holes in each other’s coats. Come into the parlour.’ said Mrs Dilber and the man together. who’s the wiser. The old man raked the fire together with an old stair-rod.’ ‘Very well. then.’ ‘No. indeed. woman. Mrs Dilber. While he did this. we’re well matched. indeed. don’t stand staring as if you was afraid. crossing her elbows on her knees.

’ why wasn’t he natural in his lifetime. Speak out plain. upon the wall. I believe. a pair of sleeve-buttons. and let me know the value of it. alone by himself. I’m not afraid to be the first. Open that bundle. 110 of 138
. They were severally examined and appraised by old Joe. Open the bundle.’ pursued the woman. he’d have had somebody to look after him when he was struck with Death. If he had been.A Christmas Carol
‘If he wanted to keep them after he was dead. It’s no sin. you may depend upon it. instead of lying gasping out his last there. A seal or two. if I could have laid my hands on anything else.’ ‘It’s the truest word that ever was spoke. a pencil-case. It was not extensive.’ ‘I wish it was a little heavier judgment. who chalked the sums he was disposed to give for each. Joe. before we met here. and the man in faded black. mounting the breach first.’ said Mrs Dilber. ‘It’s a judgment on him. a wicked old screw.’ replied the woman. We know pretty well that we were helping ourselves.’ and it should have been. nor afraid for them to see it. and a brooch of no great value. old Joe. were all. produced his plunder.’ But the gallantry of her friends would not allow of this. and added them up into a total when he found there was nothing more to come.

’ said Joe.’ ‘And now undo my bundle.’ and I wouldn’t give another sixpence.’ said old Joe. Download the free trial version. Her account was stated on the wall in the same manner. ‘What do you call this.
‘That’s your account.’ ‘Ah. ‘That’s your account.’ replied the woman.’ ‘You don’t mean to say you took them down. and having unfastened a great many knots.’ said Joe. rings and all. ‘Bed-curtains. ‘I always give too much to ladies.’
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.’ returned the woman. with him lying there. laughing and leaning forward on her crossed arms. and edit PDF. ‘Why not. ‘Yes I do.’ said Joe.’ Mrs Dilber was next.’ said the first woman. I’d repent of being so liberal and knock off half-a-crown. a little wearing apparel. and that’s the way I ruin myself. If you asked me for another penny. dragged out a large and heavy roll of some dark stuff. a pair of sugar-tongs. two old-fashioned silver teaspoons. view. and a few boots. Sheets and towels. Who’s next.eBook brought to you by
A Christmas Carol
Create. ‘Bed-curtains. if I was to be boiled for not doing it. It’s a weakness of mine. Joe. and made it an open question. Joe went down on his knees for the greater convenience of opening it.

‘I an’t so fond of his company that I’d loiter about him for such things. if he did.’ returned the woman. It’s quite as becoming to the body. now. ‘Don’t you be afraid of that. you may look through that shirt till your eyes ache.’ ‘I certainly shan’t hold my hand. nor a threadbare place.’ said old Joe.’ and you’ll certainly do it. and a fine one too.’ ‘His blankets.A Christmas Carol
‘You were born to make your fortune. I promise you. to be sure.’ ‘I hope he didn’t die of any thing catching. He can’t look uglier than he did in that one. Joe. ‘Putting it on him to be buried in. They’d have wasted it. ‘Don’t drop that oil upon the blankets. it isn’t good enough for anything.’ 112 of 138
. for the sake of such a man as he was. when I can get anything in it by reaching it out.’ replied the woman.’ ‘What do you call wasting of it. Ah. Eh. but I took it off again. ‘He isn’t likely to take cold without them.’ asked Joe.’ replied the woman with a laugh.’ returned the woman coolly. but you won’t find a hole in it. It’s the best he had. and looking up. I dare say. ‘Whose else’s do you think.’ asked old Joe. If calico an’t good enough for such a purpose. if it hadn’t been for me. stopping in his work. ‘Somebody was fool enough to do it.’ said Joe.

too dark to be observed with any accuracy. ha. to profit us when he was dead. you see. ha. I see.’ said Scrooge. which. ha. My life tends that way. ‘I see. He frightened every one away from him when he was alive. though the demons. shuddering from head to foot. fell straight upon the bed. A pale light. beneath a ragged sheet. which could hardly have been greater. As they sat grouped about their spoil.A Christmas Carol
Scrooge listened to this dialogue in horror.’ He recoiled in terror. when old Joe. told out their several gains upon the ground. now. announced itself in awful language. ‘Ha. rising in the outer air. and now he almost touched a bed: a bare.’ ‘Spirit. plundered and bereft. there lay a something covered up. though it was dumb. Ha. 113 of 138
. he viewed them with a detestation and disgust. and on it. in the scanty light afforded by the old man’s lamp.’ laughed the same woman. though Scrooge glanced round it in obedience to a secret impulse. Merciful Heaven. producing a flannel bag with money in it. for the scene had changed. The case of this unhappy man might be my own. The room was very dark. ‘This is the end of it. uncurtained bed: on which. marketing the corpse itself. anxious to know what kind of room it was. what is this.

unwept. and tender. but that the hand was open. It is not that the hand is heavy and will fall down when released. Shadow. the motion of a finger upon Scrooge’s part. but had no more power to withdraw the veil than to dismiss the spectre at his side. and the pulse a man’s. Scrooge glanced towards the Phantom. cold. to sow the world with life immortal. was the body of this man. He thought of it. and yet he heard them when he looked upon the bed. generous. rigid. The cover was so carelessly adjusted that the slightest raising of it. or make one feature odious. dreadful Death. and longed to do it. and dress it with such terrors as thou hast at thy command: for this is thy dominion. Oh cold. if this man could be raised up now. strike. Strike. the heart brave. thou canst not turn one hair to thy dread purposes. set up thine altar here. felt how easy it would be to do. He thought. revered. warm.A Christmas Carol
unwatched. And see his good deeds springing from the wound. No voice pronounced these words in Scrooge’s ears. it is not that the heart and pulse are still. uncared for. But of the loved. would have disclosed the face. Its steady hand was pointed to the head. and true. what would
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. and honoured head.

with not a man. and there was a sound of gnawing rats beneath the hearth-stone.’ said Scrooge quite agonised. hard-dealing.A Christmas Carol
be his foremost thoughts. in the dark empty house. and for the memory of one kind word I will be kind to him. revealed a room by daylight. if I could. They have brought him to a rich end. But I have not the power. I have not the power.’ Still the Ghost pointed with an unmoved finger to the head.’ Again it seemed to look upon him. and why they were so restless and disturbed. a woman.’ Scrooge returned. Avarice. What they wanted in the room of death. Spirit. truly. Let us go. In leaving it. griping cares. Spirit. and withdrawing it. ‘show that person to me.’ and I would do it. He lay. like a wing. I beseech you. A cat was tearing at the door. I shall not leave its lesson. who feels emotion caused by this man’s death. or a child. trust me. where a mother and her children were. to say that he was kind to me in this or that. ‘I understand you.
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. ‘If there is any person in the town.’ The Phantom spread its dark robe before him for a moment. Scrooge did not dare to think.’ he said. ‘Spirit.’ this is a fearful place.

a man whose face was careworn and depressed. amazed. and which he struggled to repress.’ ‘He is past relenting. There is hope yet. ‘Is it good.’ she said. and could hardly bear the voices of the children in their play.’ he answered. and when she asked him faintly what news (which was not until after a long silence). to work with her needle. ‘there is.’ ‘If he relents. though he was young. There was a remarkable expression in it now.’ ‘No. tried. ‘or bad?’ — to help him. started at every sound. a kind of serious delight of which he felt ashamed. for she walked up and down the room. and met her husband. glanced at the clock. ‘Bad. Caroline. but she was thankful in her soul to hear it. but in vain. he appeared embarrassed how to answer. if such a miracle has happened. and with anxious eagerness. At length the long-expected knock was heard. She hurried to the door. looked out from the window. and she 116 of 138
. ‘We are quite ruined.’ she said.’ She was a mild and patient creature if her face spoke truth.’ said her husband.A Christmas Carol
She was expecting some one. ‘He is dead. He sat down to the dinner that had been boarding for him by the fire. Nothing is past hope.

and was sorry.’ ‘I don’t know. when I tried to see him and obtain a week’s delay. Soften it as they would. but the first was the emotion of her heart. She prayed forgiveness the next moment. with clasped hands.’ or that dark chamber. but dying.’
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. said to me. But before that time we shall be ready with the money. hushed and clustered round to hear what they so little understood. ‘Let me see some tenderness connected with a death. and what I thought was a mere excuse to avoid me. ‘What the half-drunken woman whom I told you of last night. which we left just now. it would be a bad fortune indeed to find so merciless a creditor in his successor. their hearts were lighter. and even though we were not. caused by the event. The only emotion that the Ghost could show him.’ said Scrooge. We may sleep to-night with light hearts. The children’s faces. Spirit.A Christmas Carol
said so.’ Yes. then. and it was a happier house for this man’s death. Caroline. were brighter.’ ‘To whom will our debt be transferred. was one of pleasure. turns out to have been quite true. will be for ever present to me. He was not only very ill.

‘And he took a child. poor Tiny Tim. The boy must have read them out. as he and the Spirit crossed the threshold.’ said Cratchit’s wife. and as they went along. The mother and her daughters were engaged in sewing. and I wouldn’t show
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.’ she said. and sat looking up at Peter. and found the mother and the children seated round the fire. The colour. and put her hand up to her face. who had a book before him. But surely they were very quiet. The mother laid her work upon the table. and set him in the midst of them. He had not dreamed them.’ Where had Scrooge heard those words. but nowhere was he to be seen. The noisy little Cratchits were as still as statues in one corner. Ah. ‘It makes them weak by candle-light. ‘They’re better now again. Why did he not go on. Very quiet.A Christmas Carol
The Ghost conducted him through several streets familiar to his feet. the dwelling he had visited before. They entered poor Bob Cratchit’s house. Quiet. ‘The colour hurts my eyes. Scrooge looked here and there to find himself.

‘Often.’ Bob was very cheerful with them. poor fellow — came in. It must be near his time.’ ‘And so have I.’ They were very quiet again. ‘But he was very light to carry. and little Bob in his comforter — he had need of it. that only faltered once: ‘I have known him walk with — I have known him walk with Tiny Tim upon his shoulder. His tea was ready for him on the hob.’ she resumed. each child a little cheek.A Christmas Carol
weak eyes to your father when he comes home. 119 of 138
. these few last evenings.’ ‘Past it rather. against his face. that it was no trouble: no trouble. as if they said. intent upon her work. cheerful voice. So had all. and spoke pleasantly to all the family. mother. Then the two young Cratchits got upon his knees and laid. At last she said. shutting up his book.’ and his father loved him so.’ exclaimed another.’ Don’t mind it. ‘But I think he has walked a little slower than he used.’ Peter answered. very fast indeed. and in a steady. and they all tried who should help him to it most. He looked at the work upon the table.’ cried Peter. And there is your father at the door. for the world. Don’t be grieved.’ ‘And so have I.’ She hurried out to meet him. father.

A Christmas Carol

and praised the industry and speed of Mrs Cratchit and the girls. They would be done long before Sunday, he said. ‘Sunday. You went to-day, then, Robert.’ said his wife. ‘Yes, my dear,’ returned Bob. ‘I wish you could have gone. It would have done you good to see how green a place it is. But you’ll see it often. I promised him that I would walk there on a Sunday. My little, little child.’ cried Bob. ‘My little child.’ He broke down all at once. He couldn’t help it. If he could have helped it, he and his child would have been farther apart perhaps than they were. He left the room, and went up-stairs into the room above, which was lighted cheerfully, and hung with Christmas. There was a chair set close beside the child, and there were signs of some one having been there, lately. Poor Bob sat down in it, and when he had thought a little and composed himself, he kissed the little face. He was reconciled to what had happened, and went down again quite happy. They drew about the fire, and talked; the girls and mother working still. Bob told them of the extraordinary kindness of Mr Scrooge’s nephew, whom he had scarcely seen but once, and who, meeting him in the street that day, and seeing that he looked a little -’ just a little down 120 of 138

A Christmas Carol

you know,’ said Bob, inquired what had happened to distress him. ‘On which,’ said Bob,’ for he is the pleasantest-spoken gentleman you ever heard, I told him. ‘I am heartily sorry for it, Mr Cratchit,’ he said,’ and heartily sorry for your good wife.’ By the bye, how he ever knew that, I don’t know.’ ‘Knew what, my dear.’ ‘Why, that you were a good wife,’ replied Bob. ‘Everybody knows that.’ said Peter. ‘Very well observed, my boy.’ cried Bob. ‘I hope they do. ‘Heartily sorry,’ he said,’ for your good wife. If I can be of service to you in any way,’ he said, giving me his card,’ that’s where I live. Pray come to me.’ Now, it wasn’t,’ cried Bob,’ for the sake of anything he might be able to do for us, so much as for his kind way, that this was quite delightful. It really seemed as if he had known our Tiny Tim, and felt with us.’ ‘I’m sure he’s a good soul.’ said Mrs Cratchit. ‘You would be surer of it, my dear,’ returned Bob,’ if you saw and spoke to him. I shouldn’t be at all surprised mark what I say. — if he got Peter a better situation.’ ‘Only hear that, Peter,’ said Mrs Cratchit.

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A Christmas Carol

‘And then,’ cried one of the girls,’ Peter will be keeping company with some one, and setting up for himself.’ ‘Get along with you.’ retorted Peter, grinning. ‘It’s just as likely as not,’ said Bob,’ one of these days; though there’s plenty of time for that, my dear. But however and when ever we part from one another, I am sure we shall none of us forget poor Tiny Tim — shall we — or this first parting that there was among us.’ ‘Never, father.’ cried they all. ‘And I know,’ said Bob,’ I know, my dears, that when we recollect how patient and how mild he was; although he was a little, little child; we shall not quarrel easily among ourselves, and forget poor Tiny Tim in doing it.’ ‘No, never, father.’ they all cried again. ‘I am very happy,’ said little Bob,’ I am very happy.’ Mrs Cratchit kissed him, his daughters kissed him, the two young Cratchits kissed him, and Peter and himself shook hands. Spirit of Tiny Tim, thy childish essence was from God. ‘Spectre,’ said Scrooge,’ something informs me that our parting moment is at hand. I know it, but I know not how. Tell me what man that was whom we saw lying dead.’ 122 of 138

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The Ghost of Christmas Yet To Come conveyed him, as before — though at a different time, he thought: indeed, there seemed no order in these latter visions, save that they were in the Future — into the resorts of business men, but showed him not himself. Indeed, the Spirit did not stay for anything, but went straight on, as to the end just now desired, until besought by Scrooge to tarry for a moment. ‘This courts,’ said Scrooge,’ through which we hurry now, is where my place of occupation is, and has been for a length of time. I see the house. Let me behold what I shall be, in days to come.’ The Spirit stopped; the hand was pointed elsewhere. ‘The house is yonder,’ Scrooge exclaimed. ‘Why do you point away.’ The inexorable finger underwent no change. Scrooge hastened to the window of his office, and looked in. It was an office still, but not his. The furniture was not the same, and the figure in the chair was not himself. The Phantom pointed as before. He joined it once again, and wondering why and whither he had gone, accompanied it until they reached an iron gate. He paused to look round before entering.

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The Phantom was exactly as it had been. the growth of vegetation’s death. the ends will change. He advanced towards it trembling.’ Still the Ghost pointed downward to the grave by which it stood.’ said Scrooge. not life. The Spirit stood among the graves. It was a worthy place. ‘Before I draw nearer to that stone to which you point. ‘answer me one question. trembling as he went. lay underneath the ground. choked up with too much burying. and pointed down to One.’ said Scrooge. 124 of 138
. fat with repleted appetite. Say it is thus with what you show me.’ The Spirit was immovable as ever. only. overrun by grass and weeds. A worthy place. Walled in by houses. ‘Men’s courses will foreshadow certain ends. then. Ebenezer Scrooge. ‘But if the courses be departed from. Are these the shadows of the things that Will be. and following the finger.A Christmas Carol
A churchyard. but he dreaded that he saw new meaning in its solemn shape. to which. or are they shadows of things that May be. they must lead. read upon the stone of the neglected grave his own name. if persevered in. Scrooge crept towards it. Here. the wretched man whose name he had now to learn.

stronger yet. tell me I may sponge away the writing on this stone. Oh no. and back again.’ hear me.’ he pursued. by an altered life. I will not be the man I must have been but for this intercourse. I will live in the Past. ‘Good Spirit. he caught the spectral hand. ‘No. upon his knees.’ The finger still was there.’ For the first time the hand appeared to shake. I am not the man I was. as down upon the ground he fell before it:’ Your nature intercedes for me. tight clutching at its robe. 125 of 138
. and pities me. The Spirits of all Three shall strive within me. Oh. Why show me this. It sought to free itself. and try to keep it all the year. I will not shut out the lessons that they teach. ‘Spirit. but he was strong in his entreaty. if I am past all hope. repulsed him. Assure me that I yet may change these shadows you have shown me.’ In his agony. ‘I will honour Christmas in my heart.’ he cried. The finger pointed from the grave to him. The Spirit. no.’ he cried.A Christmas Carol
‘Am I that man who lay upon the bed. and detained it. the Present. and the Future.’ The kind hand trembled. Spirit.

he saw an alteration in the Phantom’s hood and dress.
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. collapsed. and dwindled down into a bedpost.A Christmas Carol
Holding up his hands in a last prayer to have his fate aye reversed. It shrunk.

They will be. turning them inside out. the Time before him was his own. He had been sobbing violently in his conflict with the Spirit. Best and happiest of all. tearing them. mislaying them. They are here — I am here — the shadows of the things that would have been. I know they will. putting them on upside down. that his broken voice would scarcely answer to his call. old Jacob. ‘The Spirits of all Three shall strive within me. and the Christmas Time be praised for this.’ His hands were busy with his garments all this time.’ He was so fluttered and so glowing with his good intentions. rings and all. as he scrambled out of bed. and the Future. Oh Jacob Marley.’ cried Scrooge. and his face was wet with tears. the room was his own. I say it on my knees.’ they are not torn down.’ Scrooge repeated.
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. the Present. ‘They are not torn down. making them parties to every kind of extravagance. folding one of his bed-curtains in his arms. on my knees. to make amends in! ‘I will live in the Past. may be dispelled. The bed was his own.A Christmas Carol
Stave 5: The End of It
Yes! and the bedpost was his own. Heaven.

’ cried Scrooge. A merry Christmas to everybody. Never mind. The father of a long. I am as merry as a schoolboy.’ 128 of 138
. Hallo. a most illustrious laugh. starting off again. for a man who had been out of practice for so many years. I don’t know anything. it was a splendid laugh. it’s all true. Hallo here.A Christmas Carol
‘I don’t know what to do. ‘I don’t know what day of the month it is. I’m quite a baby.’ He had frisked into the sitting-room. ‘I am as light as a feather. and going round the fireplace. by which the Ghost of Jacob Marley entered. A happy New Year to all the world. long line of brilliant laughs. and making a perfect Laocoon of himself with his stockings. There’s the window where I saw the wandering Spirits. Whoop. It’s all right. I’d rather be a baby. ‘There’s the door. Whoop. I am as giddy as a drunken man.’ said Scrooge. ‘There’s the saucepan that the gruel was in. Ha ha ha.’ Really. Hallo. and was now standing there: perfectly winded. I don’t care. sat. ‘I don’t know how long I’ve been among the Spirits. it all happened. I am as happy as an angel. laughing and crying in the same breath. Hallo here.’ cried Scrooge. There’s the corner where the Ghost of Christmas Present.

at the corner. glorious. Oh.’ returned the boy.’ returned the boy.’ said Scrooge. hammer. clang. Glorious. bright. Christmas Day. my fine fellow. who perhaps had loitered in to look about him. glorious. Running to the window. my fine fellow. Hallo.’ replied the lad.’ Scrooge inquired. ‘To-day. ‘Why. no mist. Bell. jovial. stirring. clash. cold.A Christmas Carol
He was checked in his transports by the churches ringing out the lustiest peals he had ever heard. with all his might of wonder. ‘Do you know the Poulterer’s. merry bells. dong.’ cried Scrooge. bell.’ said Scrooge to himself. clear. he opened it. Of course they can. sweet fresh air.’ ‘It’s Christmas Day. in the next street but one.’ replied the boy. ‘I haven’t missed it. hammer. No fog. glorious. ‘Eh. ding. ding.’ ‘Hallo. clang. Oh. and put out his head. ‘I should hope I did. They can do anything they like. dong. The Spirits have done it all in one night. Of course they can. ‘What’s to-day.
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. calling downward to a boy in Sunday clothes. Clash. cold. Heavenly sky. ‘What’s to-day. Golden sunlight. piping for the blood to dance to.

and splitting with a laugh. ‘No. but write it he did. ‘Go and buy it.’ ‘Walk-er. no. and I’ll give you a shilling. that I may give them the direction where to take it. and went 130 of 138
. Come back with the man. ‘A remarkable boy. ‘Is it. and tell them to bring it here. It’s twice the size of Tiny Tim. ‘It’s a pleasure to talk to him. ‘I’ll send it to Bon Cratchit’s.’ The boy was off like a shot.’ exclaimed the boy.’ said Scrooge.’ ‘It’s hanging there now.’ whispered Scrooge. ‘He shan’t know who sends it. Come back with him in less than five minutes and I’ll give you half-a-crown. He must have had a steady hand at a trigger who could have got a shot off half so fast.’ said Scrooge. ‘What a delightful boy. Yes. somehow.’ The hand in which he wrote the address was not a steady one. the one as big as me.A Christmas Carol
‘An intelligent boy.’ ‘What. Do you know whether they’ve sold the prize Turkey that was hanging up there — Not the little prize Turkey: the big one.’ said Scrooge.’ said Scrooge.’ replied the boy. Go and buy it. ‘I am in earnest. rubbing his hands. my buck. Joe Miller never made such a joke as sending it to Bob’s will be.’ returned the boy.

It’s a wonderful knocker.’ cried Scrooge. patting it with his hand. How are you. ‘You must have a cab. and shaving requires attention.’ It was a Turkey. and been quite satisfied. He would have snapped them short off in a minute. that bird. But if he had cut the end of his nose off. ‘I shall love it. ‘Why. and the chuckle with which he recompensed the boy. — Here’s the Turkey. and chuckled till he cried. Merry Christmas. he would have put a piece of sticking-plaster over it. What an honest expression it has in its face. like sticks of sealing-wax. even when you don’t dance while you are at it. Whoop.’ The chuckle with which he said this. as long as I live. ‘I scarcely ever looked at it before. He never could have stood upon his legs.A Christmas Carol
down-stairs to open the street door. ready for the coming of the poulterer’s man. As he stood there. and the chuckle with which he paid for the Turkey. for his hand continued to shake very much. Hallo.’ said Scrooge. the knocker caught his eye. and the chuckle with which he paid for the cab. 131 of 138
. it’s impossible to carry that to Camden Town. Shaving was not an easy task. were only to be exceeded by the chuckle with which he sat down breathless in his chair again. waiting his arrival.

and taking the old gentleman by both his hands. sir.’ ‘Yes. when coming on towards him he beheld the portly gentleman. He looked so irresistibly pleasant. A merry Christmas to you. as he had seen them with the Ghost of Christmas Present. and walking with his hands behind him.’ ‘Mr Scrooge.’ Good morning. And 132 of 138
. sir. quickening his pace.’ Scrooge and Marley’s. and I fear it may not be pleasant to you. in a word. He had not gone far. I hope you succeeded yesterday.A Christmas Carol
He dressed himself all in his best.’ said Scrooge. Scrooge regarded every one with a delighted smile. The people were by this time pouring forth.’ And Scrooge said often afterwards.’ It sent a pang across his heart to think how this old gentleman would look upon him when they met. but he knew what path lay straight before him. ‘My dear sir. A merry Christmas to you. that three or four goodhumoured fellows said. that of all the blithe sounds he had ever heard. I believe. and at last got out into the streets. ‘How do you do. who had walked into his counting-house the day before. Allow me to ask your pardon. those were the blithest in his ears. ‘That is my name.’ said Scrooge. and said. It was very kind of you. and he took it.

‘I am much obliged to you.A Christmas Carol
will you have the goodness’ — here Scrooge whispered in his ear.’ said Scrooge.’ said Scrooge. and walked about the streets. He had never dreamed that any walk — that anything — could give him so much happiness.
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. and found that everything could yield him pleasure. as if his breath were taken away. ‘Come and see me. I assure you.’ retorted Scrooge. In the afternoon he turned his steps towards his nephew’s house. are you serious. ‘My dear Mr Scrooge.’ cried the old gentleman. A great many back-payments are included in it. ‘Not a farthing less. and watched the people hurrying to and fro. and looked down into the kitchens of houses. Will you do me that favour. And it was clear he meant to do it.’ said the other.’ He went to church. ‘Lord bless me. Bless you.’ ‘If you please. shaking hands with him. and patted children on the head. Will you come and see me.’ ‘I will. ‘I don’t know what to say to such munificence.’ cried the gentleman.’ ‘My dear sir. and up to the windows. ‘Thank you.’ ‘Don’t say anything please. I thank you fifty times. and questioned beggars.

’ said Scrooge to the girl. or he wouldn’t have done it.’ He turned it gently. ‘Yes. how his niece by marriage started.’ ‘Where is he. for the moment.’ said Scrooge. ‘Why bless my soul. They were looking at the table (which was spread out in great array). on any account. along with mistress. ‘He’s in the dining-room. I’ll show you up-stairs. my dear. with his hand already on the dining-room lock. and did it: ‘Is your master at home. Nice girl. sir. Scrooge had forgotten.’ said Scrooge. and sidled his face in. my dear. about her sitting in the corner with the footstool.A Christmas Carol
He passed the door a dozen times. He knows me.’ cried Fred. But he made a dash.’ ‘Thank you. if you please.’ who’s that. my love. Very. ‘I’ll go in here. ‘Fred. for these young housekeepers are always nervous on such points.’ said Scrooge.’
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. before he had the courage to go up and knock. Dear heart alive. sir. round the door. and like to see that everything is right.

So did Topper when he came. Download the free trial version.’ ‘I am very sorry. Nothing could be heartier. Wonderful party. Fred.’ Let him in. So did the plump sister when she came. he was early there. I have come to dinner.’ growled Scrooge. He was full eighteen minutes and a half behind his time. No Bob. and edit PDF. His hat was off.eBook brought to you by
A Christmas Carol
Create. as near as he could feign it. sir. wonderful games. that he might see him come into the Tank. And he did it. Oh. Will you let me in. wonderful unanimity. But he was early at the office next morning. So did every one when they came. No Bob. driving away with his pen. and catch Bob Cratchit coming late. A quarter past. The clock struck nine. as if he were trying to overtake nine o’clock. If he could only be there first.’ 135 of 138
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‘It’s I. in his accustomed voice. he did.’ said Bob. before he opened the door. ‘What do you mean by coming here at this time of day. Your uncle Scrooge. ‘Hallo. Scrooge sat with his door wide open. view. yes. It is a mercy he didn’t shake his arm off. wonderful happiness. He was on his stool in a jiffy. That was the thing he had set his heart upon. His niece looked just the same. He was at home in five minutes. ‘I am behind my time. his comforter too.

as he clapped him on the back. my good fellow. sir. And therefore. than I have given you for many a year. Make up the fires. He had a momentary idea of knocking Scrooge down with it.’ ‘Now. Step this way. I’ll raise your salary.’ I am not going to stand this sort of thing any longer. Bob. if you please. I was making rather merry yesterday.’ and therefore I am about to raise your salary. and endeavour to assist your struggling family. and we will discuss your affairs this very afternoon. leaping from his stool.’ Bob trembled. sir. I’ll tell you what. and buy another coal-scuttle before you dot another i. ‘A merry Christmas. ‘A merrier Christmas.’ pleaded Bob. my friend. and calling to the people in the court for help and a strait-waistcoat. and got a little nearer to the ruler. I think you are.’ repeated Scrooge.A Christmas Carol
‘You are. ‘Yes. and giving Bob such a dig in the waistcoat that he staggered back into the Tank again.’ said Scrooge. over a Christmas bowl of smoking bishop. with an earnestness that could not be mistaken.’ 136 of 138
.’ ‘It’s only once a year. sir. appearing from the Tank.’ said Scrooge. Bob. Bob Cratchit. ‘It shall not be repeated. Bob. holding him.’ he continued.

and little heeded them. town. and infinitely more. as the good old city knew. as good a master. or any other good old city. as Tiny Tim observed. and it was always said of him. ever afterwards. and knowing that such as these would be blind anyway. May that be truly said of us. at which some people did not have their fill of laughter in the outset. He became as good a friend. he thought it quite as well that they should wrinkle up their eyes in grins. Every One!
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. or borough. who did not die. as have the malady in less attractive forms. he was a second father. and as good a man.A Christmas Carol
Scrooge was better than his word. but lived upon the Total Abstinence Principle. for good. but he let them laugh. in the good old world. He did it all. and all of us! And so. Some people laughed to see the alteration in him. and to Tiny Tim. God bless Us. if any man alive possessed the knowledge. for he was wise enough to know that nothing ever happened on this globe. He had no further intercourse with Spirits. His own heart laughed: and that was quite enough for him. that he knew how to keep Christmas well.